1751 to 1760
1752
born ..... Hannah Mather Crocker ..... grand-daughter of Cotton Mather and an early Massachusetts advocate of women's rights. Her Series of Letters on Free Masonry published in 1815 deals with her educational attempts in connection with Masonic lodges for women. In 1818 she published Observations on the Real Rights of Women. She believed that Christian doctrine insisted that the sexes share equally in divine grace and she argued that marriage should be a state of mutual affection and trust with all responsibilities shared by both partners including the earned family income. She died in 1829 ..... and .....
born ..... Louisa Maximilienne Caroline , Countess of Albany ..... daughter of Prince Gustav Adolf of Stolberg who married Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Count of Albany , known as Bonnie Prince Charlie during the 1745 Jacobite rising. Their marriage was dissolved in 1784 and she took up with the Italian dramatist Count Vittorio Alfieri. When he died she lived with the painter Francois Fabre. When she died in 1824 her ashes were buried with those of Alfieri between the tombs of Michelangelo and Machiavelli in Florence
1753
England ..... written on a market cross in Devizes, Wiltshire, which was erected in 1814 is the following -- on Thursday 25th January Ruth Pierce of Potterne in Wiltshire agreed with three other women to buy a sack of wheat in the market, each paying her due proportion towards the same. One of these women, in collecting the several quotas of money, discovered a deficiency and demanded of Ruth Pierce the sum which was wanting to make good the amount. Ruth Pierce protested that she had paid her share and said that she wished she might drop down dead if she had not. She rashly repeated this awful wish, when, to the consternation and terror of the surrounding multitude, she instantly fell down and expires, having the money concealed in her hand .... but is this a true account of what really happened or was it because Ruth had woken that morning with pains in her chest and perhaps should never have have taken the journey to market but having done so became worse as the day wore on and at the crucial moment when the money was demanded said the words " I want my wheat, I've paid my money - I'll drop down dead if not" and promptly did so, dying from a heart attack or did she really try to take her wheat without paying her due - we shall never know ..... and .....
born ..... Josefa Amar ..... Spanish linguist and writer who was deeply concerned with the position of women. She presented a dissertation defending women and their aptitude for government service as well as for other positions that were then only held by men. Josefa also stressed the need for women's education and condemned men's attempts to judge, define or constrict women in any way
1754
England ..... the Hardwicke Marriage Act made parental consent obligatory for minors to marry ..... and .....
born ..... Mary L Hays McCauley ..... known as Molly Pitcher because she carried water in a pitcher to the revolutionary soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. The legend that she took her husband's place at a cannon probably arises through confusion with Margaret Corbin (1751-1800) who did perform such an act. Molly Pitcher died in 1832
1755
born 2nd November ..... Marie Antoinette Josephe Jeanne ..... the famous flighty and extravagant Queen of France and daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa. She was one of sixteen children and was married off at an early age to the Dauphin of France in order to strengthen the Austro-French alliance. Louis was clumsy and dull-witted and for seven years was unable to consummate the marriage. It is believed that this drove her to frivolous excesses, bitterly resented by the people. Eventually she had two sons, one of whom died in 1789 and the other became Louis XVII who died in prison in 1795. When she first arrived in Paris in a cavalcade of fifty carriages she refused to eat anything but chicken and would only drink water. In 1774 her husband became Louis XVI . When the Revolution began she organised the escape of her family but she and Louis were caught and sent back to Paris and imprisoned in the Temple. On October 16th 1793 she was guillotined in the Place de la Revolution. The Revolutionaries called her " an implacable harridan " and when she died one of her enemies wrote " the slut was audacious and insolent to the end". The remark "let them eat cake" is credited to her but it is doubtful if she ever said it. Her niece Marie Louise (1791-1847) Empress of France, was the daughter of Francis 11 of Austria and she became the second wife of Napoleon in 1810 and bore him a son ..... and .....
born ..... Miss Linwood ..... in Birmingham. A remarkable woman in the art of needlework, her exhibition, which consisted of nearly 100 pictures from the Old Masters, and worked by her in worsted with wonderful skill and perseverance, was one of the principal sights of London for more than forty years. She once refused an offer of 3,000 guineas for one of them. She died in 1845 ..... and .....
born 5th July ..... Sarah Siddons neé Kemble ..... the great tragedy Queen of Britain. She was the sister of John Kemble and in 1773 married another actor, William Siddons. Two years later she made her first appearance in Drury Lane playing the part of Portia, but she was a failure. She then toured England for six years and in 1782 returned to Drury Lane, this time becoming an immediate success. In 1803 she joined her brother John at Covent Garden and acted there until her formal farewell as Lady Macbeth in 1812. Her style of acting was grandiose and classical and her private character was irreproachable, making her a welcome guest in the best society. She died on June 8th 1831 at her house in Baker Street, London of erysipelas, which is a contagious disease causing acute inflammation of the skin, usually in the face. A picture of her, by Reynolds, as The Tragic Muse is at Dulwich and her portrait by Gainsborough, is in the National Portrait Gallery. There is also a statue of her by Chantrey in Westminster Abbey
1756
born ..... Maria Anne Fitzherbert ..... who became the mistress of the Prince of Wales, later George 1V. She was a Roman Catholic and in 1787 went through a marriage ceremony with him. The Royal Marriage Act however, did not invalidate the marriage as had it done so the Act of Settlement would have deprived George of his rights to succession. They parted in 1803 and she died in 1837….. " Love is not in our choice, but in our fate" ..... and .....
born ..... Mary Magdalen Postel ..... at Barfleur in Normany as Julie Postel. She opened a school for girls here and during the Revolution it was a centre for underground religious activities. During this period she was given charge of the reserved Eucharist and allowed to minister it to the sick. When the Revolution was over she carried on teaching and at the age of fifty one years took her vows and founded the Sisters of the Christian Schools of Mercy. The early years were discouraging but she never gave up and in 1830 acquired as headquarters, a derelict monastery at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte near Coutances. The congregation was formally recognised seven years later and she continued to direct it until her death in 1846. She was canonised in 1925 and her festal day is the 16th July
1757
born ..... Brigitta Banti ..... Italian soprano. At first she was a street singer but was then taken to Paris where, in 1776, the director of the Opera arranged an appearance for her between acts of a Gluck opera . Two years later she went to London after having a few lessons and became the principal soloist for the Pantheon concerts. She could not read music and the terms of her contract stated that £100 per year would be deducted for her musical education. Several teachers found the task impossible and she was dismissed. However she sang throughout Italy, Vienna, Warsaw and Madrid to increasing public acclaim. Da Ponte described her as ' that cursed woman who terrified by her perverseness as much as she pleased with her voice'. When she died in 1806 she is reputed to have donated her larynx, which was extremely large, to the city of Bologna ..... and .....
born ..... Georgiana Cavendish ..... the most influential member of the Whig Party in England who took an active part in politics. As the Duchess of Devonshire she was extremely liberal and progressive and supported middle class commercial interests as well as favouring a representative government
1758
born ..... Marie Lavoisier ..... a French chemist who contributed greatly to science by her translations and by her assistance to her husband, Antoine, the founder of modern chemistry. She married him when she was fourteen, they had no children and she spent twenty three years collaborating with him in his work on combustion and respiration. In 1777 they coined the word oxygene (oxygen). She also learned Latin and English and translated the chemical works of others, studied art and became a skilled draughts-woman and engraver. When her husband and father died on the guillotine in 1794 she edited her husband's Memoirs de Chimie, produced two volumes and distributed them unsold, to eminent scientists in 1805. Her second marriage only lasted a short time and she continued to hold a salon for eminent scientists until her death in 1836
1760
born ..... Deborah Sampson ..... female soldier who was born in Massachusetts and who disguised herself as a man in order to join the army where she served for more than two years. It was not until after the war in 1783 that she revealed herself to be a woman. She was given an honourable discharge and a year later married and settled down to a normal quiet life except for when she toured the theatres of New England and New York State appearing on stage in her uniform. She died in 1827 and The Female Review: of Life of Deborah Sampson was published by Herbert Mann ..... and .....
born ..... Marie Tussaud nee Greshottz ..... the most famous wax modeller in the world. She was born at Berne and did her studying of wax modelling in Paris. During the Revolution of 1789 she was put in prison by the revolutionaries, who forced her to make death masks of the famous people whose heads had been struck off by the guillotine. Among them were the King and Queen for whom she had previously worked. She finally escaped from Paris and in 1802 opened her exhibition at the Lyceum in the Strand where it immediately outshone the old waxworks of Mrs Salmon. Marie subsequently moved her museum to Blackheath and later her models were displayed in all the large towns in England. On one occasion many of them were submerged in the Irish Channel and in the Bristol riots of 1831 her show was nearly burned down. After Blackheath and until 1844 the exhibition was at 58 Baker Street but in 1885 it moved to premises in Marylebone Road . In 1925 a fire destroyed many valuable relics and figures. The building which exists today was opened on the same site in 1929, 79 years after her death on 16th April 1850 ..... and .....
born ..... Mary Darby ( Mrs Robinson )..... she was of Irish descent, the family name being McDermott, later changed to Darby. She became a brilliant and beautiful actress at Drury Lane. When she was thirteen years old she had a proposal of marriage from a Captain in the Royal Navy who thought she was sixteen. A few months later he was drowned at sea. Mary was sent to a finishing school at Marylebone and was introduced to David Garrick through the dancing master there. Garrick was very struck by her appearance and paid a lot of attention to her. Her mother was persuaded to let her train for the stage but her first appearance was deferred until after her marriage to Thomas Robinson . Although he was often unfaithful to her and she did not love him their life was gay and fashionable. However, they were imprisoned for debt and after serving a ten month sentence she decided to return to the stage. Her greatest success was as Perdita in 'A Winter's Tale' . She caught the eye and the heart of the Prince of Wales who began sending her notes signed Florizel. It was not until after they had met that she found out who Florizel was. He soon tired of her, finding dozens of ladies ready to bestow their favours on him, and she found herself deserted and heavily in debt. She did not return to the stage but travelled to Paris where her beauty captivated Queen Marie Antoinette and indeed the whole court and she was called 'la belle anglaise'. In 1784 at the age of twenty four years she contracted an illness which left her a hopeless cripple and she returned to England three years later. Her only child, a daughter, had become ill with consumption and this increased her anxiety. She spent her last years at Englefield College in Surrey, writing poetry. In her writings for the Morning Post poetry department she used the name Tabitha Bramble. When she died in 1802 her love for the Prince had never waned and she requested that a lock of her hair might be sent to him. She was buried in Old Windsor churchyard ..... and .....
born ..... Moscho Tzavella ..... a woman of outstanding courage who was descended from a historic family of guerrilla fighters and leaders of peasant armies against the Turkish conquerors. When her village of Souli was attacked by the Albanian ruler Ali Pasha she led the women of the village against the enemy and armed only with sticks and stones they forced the Pasha's army to retreat. For her bravery she was given the title of Kapetanios (Captain) and was allowed to take part in the village councils of war. She died in 1803 ..... and .....
born (c) ..... Nandi ..... famous Zulu Queen who was the mother of Shaka who became a Zulu chief on the death of his father and Nandi ruled as Queen Mother. When she died in 1827 he was overcome with grief and instituted a terrible period of public mourning in which an estimated 7000 people were massacred. Her young handmaidens were placed with her in the grave and 12,000 soldiers were put to guard it for a year. He also decreed that no crops were to be planted, milk was to be poured away and all pregnant women were to be killed. After three months however, a coup was engineered and Shaka was overthrown
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