Hello everyone!
2026 is proving to be a very hot and busy summer for all involved with the Brighton and Hove Women’s History Group.
One highlight was the installation of a blue plaque for Ellen Nye Chart at the Theatre Royal on 26 June. BHWHG’s Sue Delafons, our blue plaque champion, worked with Theatre Royal Brighton to secure the plaque. Ellen managed the theatre from 1876 to 1892 and is credited with establishing it as a venue of national importance.
The photo shows BHWHG members with Bella Sankey, leader of Brighton and Hove City Counciloutside the Theatre Royal in front of the bus named after Ellen Nye Chart.
BHWHG received positive feedback for our June talk at the Friends Meeting House. The talk focused on Brighton women who were musicians, writers and artists, offering a preview of themes from our newest book, due out next year.
Our monthly Tuesday drop-ins remain well attended. Jenny has led sessions for women interested in starting their own research, offering practical advice and guidance on how to begin. We also enjoyed a very successful visit to The Keep, attended by eleven women, and hope to organise similar sessions in the future. If there are particular research topics or areas you would like to explore, please let us know—we would be happy to help.
Dates for your diary
• We hold drop-in sessions every 2nd Tuesday of the month at the Jubilee Library in the Community Area, from 5.30-6.45pm; Free event …. with optional drinks after round the corner at The Dorset. All welcome.
We are going to “theme” our Autumn Tuesdays. We will be selecting 2 or 3 women at each session from our on-going research, whose lives we can discuss with you in more detail.
The first session on Tuesday 8th Septemberwill focus on 3 extraordinary doctors who created Brighton and Hove as a safe place for women’s medical issues to be addressed and focussed on …..Louisa Martindale; Helen Boyle and the lesser-known Lilas Blackett Jeffries.
We look forward to your company and if by any chance you have any female medical connections in your past family history, we’d love to hear your stories.
• BHWHG are pleased to be involved with Portslade History Day on September 5th. Now in its fourth year, this free, family-friendly event includes medieval art, battle re-enactments, a medieval camp, costume activities for childrenand hands-on history stalls. Local history enthusiasts can enjoy short talks and guided heritage walks led by historians and writers. BHWHG members will also give a talk on Notable Women of Brighton — please follow the link below for more information. https://www.portsladehistory.co.uk/historyday2026
• As part of the Heritage Open Day weekend, members of BHWHG will give a talk, Women in the Arts in Brighton & Hove, at the Regency Town House on Sunday 13 September. Admission is free.
• Members of BHWHG will be giving a Talk at Patcham WI on Wednesday 23rd September.
• The next in the series of talks organised by Chichester Women’s History Group is Women of the ATA: The Forgotten Pilots of WWII
Tuesday 15 September 2026 – 14:00 -16:00
Assembly Rooms (The Council House)Chichester
Talk will be given by Chichester-based author, Kevin O’Regan who is the writer of the Lizzie’s War series, a set of classic murder mysteries about a young ATA pilot.
• Due to the great success of our Summer Research visit to THE KEEP… the Drop-in Group, are planning another Friday pm visit in the Autumn…date to be announced.
Mary Clarke statue
We are delighted to report that Brighton Council has secured funding for the Mary Clarke statue. Thanks to years of fundraising and profile raising, led especially by Jean Calder, we hope the statue will be ready to unveil in late 2027.
Bella Sankey leader of Brighton and Hove City Council stated “So I’m excited to announce that we have unlocked funding to build a permanent monument to Mary and her sacrifice for us. It is crucial that our children – especially our girls – learn about the giants that have come before us and lit our path’.
The statue will stand on New Road, and we hope it will be in place for our 2028 commemoration of the Representation of the People Act 1928, which gave all women over 21 the right to vote.
We hope to see more Brighton women’s names on local buses soon. Two names have been submitted, and we’ll let everyone when they are on our Brighton streets,
Contact us by email on bhwhistoryg@gmail.com
Lots of information on our web site – https://brightonwomenshistory.org.uk
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