Extraordinary Women of Hampshire

Nearly 400 people voted in the Winchester Heritage Open Days special election, and this morning the City of Winchester Electoral Services duly declared that Josephine Butler, Social Reformer is Hampshire's most Extraordinary Woman.

Portrait of Josephine Butler by George Richmond, 1851 (NPG/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)

Not only was Josephine Butler a social reformer, she was also a pioneering feminist, daring to speak out publicly, and achieved huge social and legal reforms at a time when women did not even have the right to vote. She fought hard to eradicate child prostitution and sex trafficking across the world and successfully campaigned to repeal the Contagious Diseases Act which discriminated against prostitutes.

Many Victorians were shocked that a woman would speak in public about sexual matters and, as a result, Josephine was shunned by many of her liberal friends.

Millicent Fawcett however described her as ‘the most distinguished Englishwoman of the nineteenth century’, so perhaps it is not surprising that she was voted as the most extraordinary woman in our ballot.

The other women in the ballot were Elizabeth Bather, Juliana de la Floude, Mary Ellis, Queen Emma of Normandy, Louisa Perks and Tilly Shilling. The full election results can be found here.

Our special election and supporting pop-up exhibition was just one of hundreds of events taking place across the country which celebrated the stories of remarkable women who have brought about change, made a difference or left a legacy that should be cherished. Hampshire is blessed to have so many remarkable women, past and present, who have enriched our lives in some way or who have made a major contribution to society, either locally or at a national level. Many of the names in our exhibition would have been familiar to visitors such as Jane Austen, others such as Beatrice Shilling, maybe less so.

Our aim with both the ballot and exhibition was to enlighten and entertain all ages by providing a glimpse into the lives of the women we chose. It was not a conclusive list and we encouraged visitors to tell us of any other extraordinary women of Hampshire who we may have overlooked and who should be acknowledged.

Volunteer Pauline casts her vote in our Extraordinary Women of Hampshire election. I wonder if Pauline voted for Josephine?!

We would still be delighted to hear via our website from visitors, as we are currently exploring options to make this a permanent exhibition and are also looking for support to produce a book to accompany this very successful and popular exhibition.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank again Winchester Electoral Services for loaning us the voting equipment, to Smith & Ouzman for kindly printing the ballot papers and to Winchester City Council for funding the exhibition.

Who is your Heroine?

Prince’s Mead, Harestock Primary, St Bede's and John Keble Primary schools have identified quite a few: from famous women, historical figures, national campaigners, artists and scientists to teachers, grandmothers and even babysitters. Some are women whose achievements may have been overlooked or forgotten but all of them have made a difference or brought about a change at a national or local level. Most importantly all of them are admired by local children.

Art & Words

The competition for local schools was run as part of the Vote 100 Centenary celebrations and in preparation for this year's amazing heritage festival. Young artists and wordsmiths were invited to commemorate their local and national heroines by producing original works of art, stories and poems.

The judges were delighted by the quality of the entries, it was not easy choosing the winners. The four winners have though been chosen, and are being notified via their schools today, and their prizes (book and art tokens) will be making their way to them over the summer.

All of the works by these incredibly talented artists and writers will be exhibited at a public exhibition in the Great Hall on 8th-9th & 13th-16th September as part of the Winchester Heritage Open Days festival.

Extraordinary Women are coming to Winchester!

In September, as part of the national celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which granted suffrage to women over 30 in the UK, the Winchester Heritage Open Days team has organised more than 40 free events in and around Winchester. These events will be putting the spotlight on some of the national and community heroines whose history has been overlooked or forgotten and Extraordinary Women will be honoured through talks, walks and exhibitions. The gathering of many of the speakers and event organisers at the Great Hall on Friday 22nd June saw the launch of this year’s festival programme. 

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Extraordinary Women - Photo Shoot

Winchester Heritage Open Days is one of the city’s most popular festivals, running over four days from 13th to 16th September and offering free events for the whole community. This year will feature guided walks, wine & cider tastings, craft workshops, pop-up performances, living history, exhibitions and the much loved behind-the-scenes visits to some of Winchester's historic buildings, many of which are not normally open to the public.  Festival Director, Nicky Gottlieb commented:

“This year’s Heritage Open Days festival is bigger than anything we’ve put on so far. We’ve grown year on year, and the support from the local community is overwhelming. Last year, over 10,000 attended our events, and this year, with more than 100 free events, we hope many more will enjoy what’s on offer. We are very grateful for the support of Winchester College, the City of Winchester Trust, our local councils and many other businesses and volunteers who help make this happen.”

Details of all the events can be found here and the printed programme is available from Winchester Tourist Information Centre. Festival highlights include:

• A chance to see and hear about Winchester's very own Shakespeare First Folio at Winchester College

• Medieval Knights at The Westgate, Anglo Saxons & Vikings in the Cathedral Close, and the Sealed Knot at Oram's Arbour

• Radio 4 Women’s Hour presenter Dame Jenni Murray in conversation with The Very Revd Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester about 'A History of the World in 21 Women'

• General Sir Anthony Walker KCB leading a talk on 'What did you do in the War, Mummy'

• 2TimeTheatre's world premiere of ‘Sir Walter's Women’ at The Great Hall, and Blue Apple's 'Fragments of Winchester' at Pilgrims’ Hall

July Update - The box office is now open for all the events which need to be pre-booked. Click here to book today!