The Pioneering Adventures of the First Professional Women

Ladies Can’t Climb Ladders

An inspiring centenary history of the influential women whose entry into professional roles between the wars shaped the personal and working lives of women today.

Arrestingly written…a stirring testament to unsung heroines

A well researched and entertaining read…a wonderful celebration of female pioneers

Robinson writes with an often witty touch, which only serves to throw into furious relief the seriousness of the resistance women faced . . . An excellent companion to Robinson's Bluestockings.

An entertaining guide, dipping into ladies’ journals of the time to add levity to what indeed is a serious message.

Jane Robinson’s book is a lesson in how unthinkingly we wear freedom. Well known as a writer and social historian excavating ordinary women’s lives, Robinson focuses this time on the emergence of lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, architects, scientists and churchwomen after the passing of the landmark law of 1919. Modern professional women will read it with a slow burn of anger and heightened respect for those whose actions, such a relatively brief time ago, made today possible . . . We ride on the shoulders of female giants — courageous, eccentric, clever pioneers. Robinson is a wryly amusing companion and this is an entertaining book, teeming with characters.

[Jane Robinson] has come up trumps again with this engrossing, often startling, and arrestingly-titled history of the pioneering women of the early 20th century who were among the first female doctors, lawyers, academics, architects and engineers.

A superb and energizing history of the professional women who paved the way for gender equality in law, medicine engineering and many other fields. These women were often derided, ostracised and opposed. They encountered newly made laws to keep them out of male-dominated professions and they overcame these barriers with extraordinary strength. They fought their wars in order to give us the freedom to make our own career choices. Deeply moving at times, this book deserves to be read by young and old to celebrate the achievements of an unforgettable group of women.

Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones President, Medical Women’s Federation, UK

An engrossing account of the lives of pioneering women who, against the odds, forged careers in the fields of medicine, law, architecture, engineering, academia and the Church in post-First World War Britain . . . Rich in detail, here are the stories of ‘ordinary’ women, not celebrities, which makes the book all the more interesting.

A rich picture of the struggles and successes of those amazing women who trod so quietly to leave such a massive footprint and legacy behind them.

Dawn Childs, President, Women’s Engineering Society

An engaging read bringing many brilliant and trailblazing women in the professions out of the shadow of anonymity to help inspire future generations.

Dana Denis-Smith, Founder of First 100 Years

A book of huge interest both to me and to anyone, man or woman, who wishes to understand how far we have come in gender equality – and presented in the most fascinating and appealing way

Professor Carrie MacEwen, Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges

Inspiring to read about the courage, pragmatism and determination in these women forging careers and livelihoods in traditional professions.  These stories of women from all backgrounds and social levels show the power of persistence and fortitude.

Professor Alice Gast, President, Imperial College London

[Robinson] weaves an inspirational epic from the lives of countless determined, self-propelled women

Jane Robinson is also the author of Bluestockings: The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education and Ladies Can't Climb Ladders: The Pioneering Adventures of the First Professional Women. She was born in Edinburgh, grew up in North Yorkshire and read English at Somerville College, Oxford. She has worked in the antiquarian book trade and as an archivist, and is now a full-time writer and lecturer, specializing in social history through women's eyes. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical and Royal Geographical Societies, a Hawthornden Fellow, and a Senior Associate of Somerville College. In her spare time she collects books and designs pop-up Escape Rooms. She lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband and two feline assistants, Emmy and Mrs Chippy. Trailblazer is her thirteenth book.

It is a myth that either of the World Wars liberated women. 
 
The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919 was one of the most significant pieces of legislation in modern Britain. It marked at once political watershed and a social revolution; the point at which women of 21 and over were recognised in law as being as competent as men. But were they? What actually happened when this bill was passed? This is the story of what happened next. 
 
Ladies Can't Climb Ladders focuses on the lives of six women - six pioneers - forging paths in the fields of medicine, law, academia, architecture, engineering and the church. Robinson's startling study into the public and private lives of these women sheds light not on the desires and ambitions of her subjects but how family and society responded to the working woman and what their legacy looks like today. 
 
This book is written in their honour. It is a book about live subjects: equal opportunity, the gender pay gap, and whether women can expect, or indeed deserve, to have it at all. 
'An important and crackingly good read.' - Telegraph

The Untold Story of the Great Pilgrimage and How Women Won the Vote

Hearts And Minds

'A history book that should be read by all' Stylist. The astonishing, uplifting story of the women's march on London in 1913, one of the most significant but neglected episodes in C20 history.

A story of huge courage and, most of all, immense female camaraderie...meticulously researched... 
 a fascinating and inspiring read

An excellent account of the suffragist movement.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: The war between the sisters: Smashed windows, lobbed bombs, a fascinating book casts new light on the bitter rivalry between the women who fought for the vote.

*****Five Stars! 
Hearts and Minds brings the voices of the suffragists to life in a compelling, entertaining and poignant collection of accounts. It’s a history book that should be read by all as we celebrate the centenary of the vote and continue the fight for equality. 
 
Meticulously researched yet never dull, it breathes life into a little-known corner of history

An eye-opening story, immaculately researched and full of fascinating detail.

Anecdotal and rich in detail, Robinson’s account moves effortlessly from suffragist to suffragist, using letters, journals and autobiographies to bring personal histories to life. It’s clearly a passion project for Robinson and she manages to hold a fresh lens to this otherwise well-documented portion of history.

Hearts and Minds, with its coverage of both suffragist and suffragette, is a lively, informative book that many will enjoy reading.

A fine and sometimes moving account of the struggle for suffrage.

This entertaining and very human account of the Suffragettes' politically charged summer of 1913 is mandatory reading.

Hearts and Minds by Jane Robinson is a brilliant, witty and moving account of women’s battle to win the vote. There were two key movements: the Suffragettes, prepared to suffer for their cause, including forced feeding and imprisonment, and the Suffragists, devoted to Constitutional action and unwilling to use violence. The book tells the story, still little unknown, of the successful crusade of the Suffragists who walked to London from all over England and from all sections of society. That story is the account of the ‘Great Pilgrimage’ of 1913, a key element in the finally successful of the cause of women’s suffrage.

Shirley Williams, the Rt Hon the Baroness Williams of Crosby

A fascinating new perspective on the historic struggle for women’s votes.

Margaret Jay, The Rt Hon the Baroness Jay of Paddington

Editor's Choice (History). Engrossing and impressively detailed.

This book brings to life a seminal period in the history of British women. Jane Robinson has unearthed the stories of scores of women from all classes and all parts of the country, and shows how they were prepared to suffer privation and insult in the pursuit of justice. Her vibrant account is always moving and sometimes hilarious. A lovely book and a great read.

Dr Alice Prochaska D.Phil, FRHistS, formerly Principal of Somerville College

A great read, painstakingly researched. 
Takes the reader into the lives of ordinary women and reveals at once their bright optimism and the stamina they showed - reluctantly leaving their children in the care of others, tramping miles in impractical clothes and braving the assaults of their detractors. I doubt protestors today often have to draw on such wells of sheer physical grit!

Clarissa Farr, recent head of St Paul's Girls School

A timely and wonderfully told story. Robinson skilfully and sensitively details the inspirational efforts made by ordinary people to secure the vote for women. This is an important new account that deserves a wide readership.’

Rhiannon Wilkinson, Headmistress, Wycombe Abbey School

Robinson's brilliant book - full of anecdote, meticulous historical research and wonderful images - tells the story of the Great Pilgrimage, 1913. All the famous figures are here . . . but she also tells the stories of ordinary women: of teachers and pit girls, duchesses and fishwives, all who persuaded the country and Parliament to listen to them, and transformed the lives of women, politically and personally.

Extremely well-researched and highly readable. Robinson peppers her points with insightful first-hand accounts.

A welcome fresh look at the constitutional campaign for women's suffrage.

Hearts and Minds makes it very plain why Mrs Fawcett deserves her statue in Parliament Square. Robinson has 
researched the lives of ordinary suffragists as well as the stars of the movement, and her book is clear-headed, 
perceptive and thoroughly engaging. From her narrative it's clear also how important Mrs Pankhurst was in 
bringing passion, anger and publicity to the women's cause. I think she deserves a statue too.

That six-week effort, in which rivulets of backpack-toting, banner-carrying suffragists, skirts a daring four inches above the ground, marched from every corner of England and Wales to gather for a mass meeting in London in late July, has never been thoroughly documented. It is nice to see it feature centrally here.

Hearts And Minds is a timely reminder of the courage of these unsung campaigners

Jane Robinson (Author) 
Jane Robinson is also the author of Bluestockings: the Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education. She was born in Edinburgh and brought up in Yorkshire before going to Oxford University to study English Language and Literature at Somerville College. She has worked in the antiquarian book trade and as an archivist and is now a full-time writer and lecturer, specialising in social history through women's eyes. She is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, member of the Society of Authors, and founder member of Writers in Oxford. She is married with two sons and lives in Buckinghamshire. Hearts and Minds is her tenth book.

_______ 
 
'A history book that should be read by all' - Stylist. 
 
Set against the background of the campaign for women to win the vote, this is a story of the ordinary people effecting extraordinary change. 
 
1913: the last long summer before the war. The country is gripped by suffragette fever. These impassioned crusaders have their admirers; some agree with their aims if not their forceful methods, while others are aghast at the thought of giving any female a vote. 
 
Meanwhile, hundreds of women are stepping out on to the streets of Britain. They are the suffragists: non-militant campaigners for the vote, on an astonishing six-week protest march they call the Great Pilgrimage. Rich and poor, young and old, they defy convention, risking jobs, family relationships and even their lives to persuade the country to listen to them. 
 
Fresh and original, full of vivid detail and moments of high drama, Hearts and Minds is both funny and incredibly moving, important and wonderfully entertaining.

Illegitimacy Between the Great War and the Swinging Sixties

In the Family Way

Only a generation or two ago, illegitimacy was one of the most shameful things that could happen in a family. 
 
In the Family Way tells secrets kept for entire lifetimes: long-silent voices from the workhouse, the Magdalene Laundry or the distant mother-and-baby home. Anonymous childhoods are recalled, spent in the care of Dr Barnardo or a Child Migration scheme halfway across the world. 
 
There are sorrowful stories in this book, but it is also about hope: about supportive families who welcomed 'love-children' home, or those who were parted and are now reconciled. Most of all, In the Family Way is about finally telling the truth.

An important social history tracked through personal stories that need to be heard, and will soon be beyond memory. They are not all harrowing. Compassion breaks through the stony ground

The great surprise in Jane Robinson's new history of mid-century illegitimacy is how long these opinions - the children may be blameless, but assisting them would mean condoning the intemperance of their mothers - persisted. Robinson has made contact with 100 unmarried mothers and their progeny and deftly interweaves their stories with the political and institutional history

A tragic litany of society's readiness to blame the most vulnerable for their own misfortunes . . . In the Family Way is full of heart-wrenching stories of young women kept in ignorance of the facts of life. Robinson has a good eye for the human story and the affecting detail that brings alive the hypocritical moral landscape of the period

Robinson's mix of official data and personal anecdote is powerful and persuasive

Robinson has worked to give back a voice to those not traditionally allowed one . . . Taken together, the individual stories of secrecy and enforced separation form a powerful testament to the hypocrisy and cruelty of our culture

[In the Family Way's] heart is firmly in the right place. It is a book that makes a woman want to reach for an AK47 to avenge the past; or at the very least to buy a copy to politicize their daughters

The closer Robinson's survey comes to our own day, the more shocking it grows . . . In the Family Way is not, incidentally, without its funny side. I particularly enjoyed this

Jane Robinson has managed to elicit over 100 personal accounts of illegitimacy and it is these letters and interviews that give the book its force - that, and the author's manifest warm-heartedness. The book is grounded in testimonies from real people - heartbreaking, some of them

In the Family Way is both engaging and incredibly moving and will strike a profound chord with many readers

Riveting . . . Part of the book's charm is its subtle interweaving of personal accounts with astute historical analysis

Incredibly touching . . . Robinson reveals family secrets kept for entire lifetimes. Full of poignant memories of illegitimate children brought up between WW1 and the 1960s, this is an elegant and compassionately written examination, with a thought-provoking sting in its tail

I am one of the women written about in Jane Robinson's In the Family Way. I was put in one of the homes by a mother who cared more about what the neighbours thought than how I would feel when she was taken away from me for adoption. They were awful times and Jane has done a great service by writing this book. So many people I have spoken to recently did not even know these places existed, but to myself and all the other young mothers involved they will never be forgotten. Thank you Jane for exposing it for all to see!

Robinson discovered many older people still damaged by being or bearing an illegitimate child. They swamped her with testimonies, but it is telling that almost all of the 100 interviewees asked to remain anonymous

Telegraph, Best Non-Fiction Books of 2015

Jane Robinson was born in Edinburgh, brought up in North Yorkshire and read English at Somerville College, Oxford. In the Family Way is her ninth book, and like her previous work, including the acclaimed Bluestockings (25,000 TCM) and A Force to Be Reckoned With: A History of the Women's Institute (8,000 TCM), it confirms her as one of our most engaging and original social historians. Jane lives near Oxford with her husband and two sons.

The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education

Bluestockings

The incredible story of the fight for female education in Britain 
 
In 1869, when five women enrolled at university for the first time in British history, the average female brain was thought to be 150 grams lighter than a man's. When the Cambridge Senate held a vote on whether women students should be allowed official membership of the university, there was a full-scale riot. Despite the prejudice and the terrible sacrifices they faced, women from all backgrounds persevered and paved the way for the generations who have followed them since. 
 
Bluestockings tells an inspiring story - of defiance and determination, of colourful eccentricity and at times heartbreaking loneliness, as well as of passionate friendships, midnight cocoa-parties and glorious self-discovery. 
 
'Social history of the best kind' Sunday Times 
 
'Modern girls need reminding of the long battle, and Jane Robinson's fine book does just that, charting the lives and struggles of campaigners' Mail on Sunday

Social history of the best kind -- Sunday Times

Modern girls need reminding of the long battle, and Jane Robinson's fine book does just that, charting the lives and struggles of campaigners ... But there is more joy than sorrow -- Mail on Sunday

Jane Robinson is excellent on the determination of girls to go to university, sometimes in the face of parental opposition ... There is also riveting material in Bluestockings on the opposition that the women face at college -- Mary Beard, The Times

Jane Robinson was born in Edinburgh and brought up in Yorkshire. After reading English at Somerville College, Oxford, she became an antiquarian book dealer, later leaving to pursue a writing career. Her books about women travellers and pioneers have established her as an engaging social historian with an appreciative eye for eccentricity. Jane lives near Oxford with her husband and two sons.

In 1869, when five women enrolled at university for the first time in British history, the average female brain was thought to be 150 grams lighter than a man's. Doctors warned that if women studied too hard their wombs would wither and die. When the Cambridge Senate held a vote on whether women students should be allowed official membership of the university, there was a full-scale riot. 
 
Despite the prejudice and the terrible sacrifices they faced, women from all backgrounds persevered and paved the way for the generations who have followed them since. By the 1920s, being an 'undergraduette' was considered quite the fashionable thing; by the 1930s, women were emerging from universities as anything from aviation engineers to professional academics. 
 
Bluestockings tells an inspiring story - of defiance and determination, of colourful eccentricity and at times heartbreaking loneliness, as well as of passionate friendships, midnight cocoa-parties and glorious self-discovery.

Jane Robinson

Trailblazer

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