Heroines of the past

WOMEN who refused to play by the rules and became history’s unsung heroines are celebrated in Roaring Girls by Holly Kyte.

With International Women’s Day on Tuesday, we took a look at eight formidable females in the book, published by Harpercollins.

An outrageous 16th and 17th century thief in London, nicknamed Moll Cutpurse, who refused to conform and cross-dressed to enrage society.

MARGARET CAVENDISH

A 17th-century poet and philosopher who wrote under her own name when most women writers remained anonymous, challenging the social belief that women were inferior to men. Holly says it’s hard to “overstate how daring it was”.

MARY ASTELL

This 17th and 18th-century poet and philosopher is often called the first English feminist for her campaigning for women’s education. She never married, arguing women should receive an education equal to men and should be able to refrain from marrying.

CHARLOTTE CHARKE

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

HANNAH SNELL

An 18th-century performer who disguised herself as a man and became a soldier. She lived and fought as a man for nearly five years, sailing to Lisbon, Portugal, with the 6th Regiment of Foot.

Mary was an 18th and 19th-century slave who became the first black woman to publish her life story in Britain – despite being illiterate.

ANNE LISTER

Portrayed by Suranne Jones’ in Gentleman Jack, right, Anne was the “first modern lesbian”.

CAROLINE NORTON

A 19th-century writer whose campaigning led to the Custody of Infants Act, the Matrimonial Causes Act and the Married Women’s Property Act. She left her husband, who sued her friend the then Prime Minister for adultery.