British Women's History

England and Great Britain have had a few reigning queens when the crown had no male heirs (Great Britain still has primogeniture -- inheritance by the oldest son takes precedence over any daughters). These women rulers include some of the best-known, longest-reigning and culturally most successful rulers in British history.

What did women wear, from the time of William the Conqueror (1066)? Includes color plates and line drawings as well as detailed articles about historical English fashion.

These pictures of British royal weddings show some of the changes and traditions over the years from Victoria onwards.

Royal wedding 2011: Catherine Middleton married Britain's Prince William.

Caroline Norton (1808-1877) wrote this critique of then-current law and the legal status of women.

"Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women." Writing in 1558, Knox grounds male superiority in Scripture and human nature.

English Victorian magazine, promoting rights for women and giving "scientific" fashion advice.

"Woman, Economic Instability and Poverty," a study by AnnMarie Huysman (1998), exploring the relationship between gender and poverty.

Subtitle: "The education of upper-class Englishwomen in late medieval and early modern England." A bibliography compiled by Sharon Deborah Michalove.

A University of Virginia collection of letters of one family, including some to and from the women of the family.

Seventeenth century original source documents providing evidence of women's influence.

Article by Peter Caddick-Adams details the role of British women in World Wars One and Two: the roles women served in, why they were excluded from combat, how World War One provided new opportunities and how the participation of women was essential in World War II.

An 1842 Parliamentary Paper describing women's work in the coal mines of Yorkshire. Includes testimony of two women miners.