WHO DO YOU THINK THEY WERE?

Stephen Wade tells the stories of some lesser-known people commemorated by the blue plaques of England Lillian Bilocca, a headscarfed hero, was unafraid to rock the boat. Her surname is Maltese, as Lillian, born in Hull in 1929, married Carmelo Bilocca, a merchant seaman and trawlerman. Lillian went from school to work in a fish factory, filleting along with many other local women. Maybe she wouldn’t have liked it, but she became known in the city as “Big Lil”, and the image that came down to us after her eventful and radicalised life was very much that of the woman with sleeves rolled up, ready for a fight.

The year 1968 was a terrible year for Hull, with the “triple trawler tragedy”: in a sad succession, virtually all the crew members of three trawlers were lost that year and it is on record that, after the last one – The Ross Cleveland – Lillian went into action.

The issue was multi-layered, but at the heart of the grievances was the fact that some boats had no radio operator on board and were also short of the full complement of men. Lillian’s plan was to prevent trawlers leaving port from St Andrew’s Dock. There were brushes with the law, of course. But the protests escalated, especially after Lillian and others created the Hessle Road Women’s Committee, who became known as “The Headscarf Revolutionaries”.

The Fisherman’s Charter was written and taken to Harold Wilson’s government. Lillian met and talked to the PM. He listened and change began, though Lillian suffered terribly, receiving death threats and being banned from working in the industry. Taking time off work for the campaign, she was sacked, but that didn’t stop her.

She died in 1988, and since her death her name has become one of the most famous in the list of “Hull Greats”. Her life and achievements have been celebrated in theatre, books and song, and in 2018 she was the subject of a BBC documentary called Hull’s Headscarf Heroes. Not only does her name appear on the blue plaque displayed by Hull City Council (above), but also at the Maritime Museum on a Lord Mayors Centenary plaque.

Her petition (of 10,000 names), her meeting with Harold Wilson, and the struggle undertaken by the Headscarf Heroes really did make history.