Women's Day: Hidden history of York Women who never gave up

And some of these stories centre on York - and one special address in one of our most historic streets, Shambles.

But more of that later.

This country has seen huge cultural changes in the role of women in society, though of course there is still a long way to go.

And around the world there are many places where women’s freedom is severely limited; their dress and behaviour being dictated to by men.

But a glance at history shows how here in England, the vast majority of women were kept practically in servitude, if not physically at home, then certainly in expressing their opinions and being recognised as having equal worth alongside men.

In her blog post for the York Museums Trust, Megan Kilvington tells us of the women who were locked up in York Castle prison simply because they demanded the right to worship as Catholics.

The castle along with its prison has long since disappeared, but the memory of these brave women lives on.

This was a time when the laws of England forbade anyone from asserting their own individual beliefs if they differed from those of the monarch.

There’s a long list of names. Bridget Maskew and Ann Tesse, for example, were convicted of High Treason simply for having tried to convert a Church of England clergyman.

Mrs Dorothy Vavasour was the wife of a Cambridge-educated medic, Dr Thomas Vavasour, resident in York at that time. She was described in a 1577 official document of the time as ‘worth nothing but very wilful’.

Both the ecclesiastical and civil authorities were constantly monitoring women who were believed to be manipulative and subversive.

They, or rather their husbands, were liable to a hefty fine if they missed services of the established church. In the late 16th century the fine was set at one shilling a week, which represented about three days’ wages at the time. But these women resisted the pressure to the very end. In many cases, they were condemned to death or ended their lives in prison rather than recant.

One such woman who never gave up was Margaret Clitherow. Known affectionately as the ‘Pearl of York’, Margaret was the wife of a master butcher and Lord Mayor of York. Walk down Shambles and you can see the house at nos.10-11, where she is reputed to have lived.

Margaret was accused of hiding Catholic priests in her house. She also refused to attend Anglican church services, and was arrested and thrown into prison. But she refused to accept the charges brought against her. In doing so, she laid down a marker for women’s freedom of thought and belief. She was tortured and eventually sentenced to a particularly cruel death in the Toll Booth on Ouse Bridge. Today, a plaque commemorating Margaret Clitherow can be seen on the bridge.

Drawing of Margaret Clitherow

Margaret Clitherow plaque in York

Just inside St Thomas’s Church, in the village of Osbaldwick, there’s the gravestone of Mary Ward, another woman with York connections who never gave up. Alongside the gravestone there’s a bunch of flowers and a summary of her life and achievements. Mary suffered from ill health for much of her life but remained positive and cheerful throughout. She spent her final years at Heworth Hall with a few companions. The hall has long since disappeared but it was thought to be located opposite the present-day Walnut Tree pub at the junction of Heworth Village and Walney Road leading to Heworth Hall Drive.

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So, what was Mary Ward’s claim to fame? She was single-minded in the pursuit of her driving ambition which was to found communities of missionary nuns similar to those of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits. She met relentless opposition from the male hierarchy of the Church and from the Jesuit Order itself as well as suspicion from civil authorities.

When she opened a school for girls in France with a few companions they were ridiculed by conservative male clerics as being ‘Galloping Girls’. Having founded convents in Belgium, Vienna, Pressburg (now Bratislava) and York, she was imprisoned for a time in Munich, and ran huge risks of falling foul of the authorities in England especially, when it was considered treasonous just to be a Catholic.

In April, 1642 Mary and her little band of companions took up residence in the Heworth house that belonged to the Thwings, another prominent Catholic family in York at the time. Two years later Mary died and was buried in a low-key ceremony in the churchyard of St Thomas Osbaldwick rather than York itself for fear of attracting public attention.

Mary Ward plaque

Almost four hundred years later in 2002, Mary Ward posthumously achieved her ambition of having the Congregation of Jesus officially recognised and allowed to adopt the constitution of the Jesuits. A network of more than 200 schools have been named after her in places as wide apart as Germany, Melbourne and Ontario.

The Bar Convent in York looks to Mary Ward for their inspiration and an exhibition of her life and work can be seen there.

Her words still resonate today as women in many parts of the world continue to insist on their rights to equality: “Fervour is not placed in feelings but in a will to do well, which women may have as well as men. There is no such difference between men and women that women may do great things”.

David Wilson is a Community Writer with The Press