Yorkshire women in history: Life and career of women who defied odds and challenged societal norms including the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia and a suffragette

There are many reasons to feel proud of the region of Yorkshire, one of these reasons are the achievements of the women before us in history, both early and modern, who have faced adversities to get us here.

These women have used their skills in various occupations such as aviation, sports, education, literature and politics to bring about equality and make a difference.

As a result, their legacies live on.

Life and career of Yorkshire women in history who defied the odds

Anne Lister

This diarist dubbed the ‘first modern lesbian’ is famous for her deeply personal revelations chronicling her relationships during a time when women were not allowed to stand out.

She was born into a minor landowning family at Shibden, Calderdale, in April 1791 and had several lesbian love affairs from her schooldays onwards and often embarked on long trips abroad.

Her appearance was described as muscular and androgynous and she always dressed in black and was highly intelligent. She was nicknamed ‘Gentleman Jack’ and was the inspiration behind Sally Wainwright’s TV series with the same title.

Her last and most significant relationship was with Ann Walker, to whom she was notionally married in Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York, which is now celebrated as the birthplace of lesbian marriage in Britain.

As well as her relationships, Anne’s diaries also revealed a lot about contemporary life in West Yorkshire, including her renovation of historic Shibden Hall and her interests in medicine, mathematics, landscaping, mining, railways and canals.

Most of her entries were written in coded language that she made up that was not deciphered until long after her death.

Amy Johnson

The pioneering pilot was born in Hull in 1903 to a family of fish merchants. She was the eldest of three sisters and attended Boulevard Municipal Secondary School, later Kingston High School, and the University of Sheffield where she graduated with a BA in economics.

She then worked as a secretary to a solicitor, William Charles Crocker, in London and was introduced to flying planes as a hobby, gaining an aviator’s certificate in January 1929 and a pilot’s ‘A’ licence in July of the same year both at the London Aeroplane Club under the tutelage of Captain Valentine Baker.

It was that year when she became the first British woman to obtain a ground engineer’s ‘C’ licence.

She bought her first aircraft from the money her father gave to her as he was always one of her strongest supporters, and Lord Wakefield at the time.

Amy bought a secondhand de Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth G-AAAH and named it Jason after her father’s business trademark.

Amy achieved international recognition in 1930 when she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. She flew Jason at the time when she left Croydon Airport, Surrey, on May 5 and landed at Darwin, Northern Territory on May 24, a distance of 11,000 miles.

Six days later, she damaged her aircraft while landing downwind at Brisbane airport and flew to Sydney with Captain Frank Follett while the aircraft was being repaired.

Jason was later flown to Mascot, Sydney, by Captain Lester Brain and Jason is now on permanent display in the Flight Gallery of the Science Museum in London.

She flew solo and set many long distance records during the 1930s. Katherine Hepburn’s character in the 1933 film Christopher Strong was inspired by Amy Johnson.

Amy flew in the Second World War as a part of the Air Transport Auxiliary and her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary and she died after bailing out.

Mary Gawthorpe

Mary was a suffragette, socialist, teacher, trade unionist and editor and was born in Woodhouse, Leeds, to John Gawthorpe, a leatherworker, and Annie Eliza Gawthorpe, a former mill worker turned assistant.

Mary was one of five siblings; her eldest sister and youngest sister (a baby) died of pneumonia a year apart and her two other siblings Annie Gatenby and James Arthur lived into adulthood.

After she graduated as a teacher in Leeds, she taught at Hough Lane School in Bramley and she became a socialist and was active in the local branch of the National Union of Teachers.

She became involved in the women’s suffrage movement and, in 1905, joined the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).

In 1906, Mary left teaching to become a full-time paid organiser for the WSPU in Leeds. She joined the Independent Labour Party and became secretary of the newly formed Women’s Labour League.

Over the next six years of her activism, she was imprisoned on several occasions for her political activities, she spoke at national events, including a rally in Hyde Park in 1908 which was attended by more than 200,000 people, and was also badly beaten, suffering serious internal injuries after heckling Winston Churchill in 1909.

In October 1906, she was arrested following a demonstration at the House of Commons because she refused to be bound over to keep the peace and was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment.

Jane Tomlinson

Jane was born in Wakefield and was the sixth of 10 children of a dentist and when she was 11 years old, her family emigrated to Australia but returned after three years.

In 1990, she applied to study mathematics at the University of Leeds, however, when she found a lump in her breast and had a lumpectomy, she enrolled at Leeds General Infirmary and trained to be a radiographer.

By then she married Mike Tomlinson and they had two daughters and later a son. After graduating in 1993, Jane studied at postgraduate level and became a paediatric radiographer.

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Three years after having a lumpectomy, the cancer returned and she had a mastectomy, two rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

In 2000, Jane was told that the cancer had spread to her bones and lungs, and was given around 12 months to live. Over the next six years, she completed the London Marathon three times, the London Triathlon twice, the New York Marathon once and cycled across Europe and the United States. She raised £1.85 million for charity and founded the Jane Tomlinson Appeal before she died in 2007 at the age of 43.

Elizabeth Beecroft

Elizabeth was an ironmaster, businessperson and a pioneering manager of Kirkstall Forge from 1778 to 1785 making and selling iron and ironware.

She was born in 1748 at Clifton, near Otley and her father, John Skirrow, was a tanner, and her mother had a business selling butter. Elizabeth was one of 11 children, six of whom survived to adulthood and was the youngest of seven daughters.

Her father often spent money recklessly while her mother paid for a basic education for all the children and Elizabeth began trading at the age of 18, with her brother James, in a shop selling pots, glasses and china, and also selling butter in Leeds market, twice weekly.

She married a farmer, George Beecroft of Bramley, and the family were supporters of cleric, theologian, and evangelist John Wesley and Elizabeth and her husband lived at Kepstorn farm, near Kirkstall Forge.

In October 1778, Elizabeth suggested to her husband that they took the lease of the forge and the farm lands and mill that came with it.

Despite her husband’s initial apprehension, Elizabeth worked with her mother-in-law, and her brothers-in-law John Butler and Thomas Butler, to secure the lease and finance the operation.

It was entirely through Elizabeth’s courage and ambition that the two families came to run the forge.

Beryl Burton

Beryl was a racing cyclist who dominated the women’s sport, winning more than 90 domestic championships and seven world titles, and setting numerous national records.

She was born Beryl Charnock in the Halton area of Leeds in 1937 and lived in the nearby Morley area throughout her life, racing mainly for Morley Cycling Club and later Knaresborough CC.

Her husband, Charlie Burton, who was a massive supporter, introduced her to cycling who she married in 1955.

Two years later, she took her first national medal, a silver in the national 100-mile individual time trial championship, and within a few years was competing internationally.

Beryl won the women’s world road race championship in 1960 and 1967 and was runner-up in 1961. She became the first woman to break the hour barrier for the 25-mile time trial in 1963.

She set a world record for the 12-hour time-trial in 1967 which exceeded the men’s record for two years.

On the track, she specialised in the individual pursuit, winning world championship medals almost every year across three decades.

In 1982, with her daughter Denise, Beryl set a British 10-mile record for women riding a tandem bicycle: 21 minutes and 25 seconds.

Betty Boothroyd

Betty was born in Dewsbury in 1929 to Ben Archibald Boothroyd and his second wife Mary who were both textile workers. She was an only child.

She was educated at council schools before she went on to study at Dewsbury College of Commerce and Art (now Kirklees College).

For six years from 1946, she worked as a dancer and was a member of the Tiller Girls dancing troupe, briefly appearing at the London Palladium. However, following a foot infection, her dancing career was cut short and she entered politics, something that was considered unusual at the time as the political world was heavily male-dominated and mostly aristocratic.

During the mid-to-late 1950s, Betty worked as secretary to Labour MPs Barbara Castle and Geoffrey de Freitas.

She ran for the Labour Party and contested several seats including Leicester South East in 1957, Peterborough in 1959, Nelson and Colne in 1968, and Rossendale in 1970, before being elected MP for West Bromwich in a by-election in 1973. She represented the constituency for 27 years.

In 1974, Betty was appointed an assistant Government Whip. Following the 1987 general election, she became a Deputy Speaker to the Speaker Bernard Weatherill.

She was the second female Deputy Speaker in British history after Betty Harvie Anderson and in 1992 she was elected Speaker, becoming the first woman to hold the position.

In response to the debate as to how she should be addressed as Speaker, Betty said: “Call me Madam”. She was Speaker until 2000.