Early trailblazers who made history

ROARING Girls, by Holly Kyte, retells the extraordinary lives of eight women who revolutionised the way we see women today.

MARY FRITH was of the most outrageous and controversial women of the 16th and 17th centuries, who made her living as a thief, deep in London’s underworld. This earned her the persona Moll Cutpurse. But Holly argues Mary is a Roaring Girl for refusing to bow to conformity, and being an “audacious and irreverent woman”.

MARGARET CAVENDISH was a 17th century poet and philosopher who wrote in her own name in a period when most women writers remained anonymous, challenging the social belief that men were inferior to women. Holly says it’s hard to overstate how daring it was for her to publish her own writing.

MARY ASTELL was a 18th century poet and philosopher dubbed the first English feminist for her campaign for women’s education. She never married, arguing that women should receive an education equal to men and be able to choose whether they married or not.

CHARLOTTE CHARKE was an 18th century actress, theatre manager and cross-dresser. Holly says her role in the history of British theatre has been ignored, as she earned “her living as a woman in a man’s world”.

HANNAH SNELL

was an 18th century performer who disguised herself as a man and became a soldier, fighting abroad for more then five years. Holly says Hannah proved women are just as capable of fighting as men, centuries before they were finally allowed to do so.

MARY PRINCE was an 18th and 19th century slave. She became the first black woman to publish her life story in Britain, despite being unable to read or write. Holly says she didn’t just publish her history, but she made history.

ANNE LISTER – made famous by Suranne Jones’ portrayal in the popular TV series Gentleman Jack – is renowned for being the “first modern lesbian”. Holly says she is an LGBT icon and helped reclaim women’s bodies and desires.

CAROLINE NORTON was a 19th century writer and women’s rights campaigner, whose work led to the passage of the Custody of Infants Act 1839, the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 and the Married Women’s Property Act. She also left her husband George Norton, who sued her close friend Lord Melbourne – then the Whig Prime Minister – for adultery and she was denied access to her three sons.

■■Roaring Girls by Holly Kyte, published by HarperCollins, is out now.