‘Pioneering women’, the impact of female guardians on the lives of workhouse children in Sussex.

Special Event

‘Pioneering women’, the impact of female guardians on the lives of workhouse children in Sussex.

Day	Friday
Date	24th October 2025
Time	19:30 - 21:30
Presenter	Dr. Mary Rudling
Cost	£12.00
Room	Main Hall
THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED
Availability	60/60 Places

Event Description
Using poor relief records, diaries and case studies this talk examines the remarkable work of women, such as Marie Corbett, who managed to remove children from the local workhouses into foster care at the end of the nineteenth century. The important relationship between these early female guardians and the suffragist movement is also discussed.
Presenter
Mary has been carrying out research into poverty in Sussex for several years. She completed a PhD on The impact of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act in Eastern Sussex in 2022 and has published an article on aspects of her research in Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol.155. She has also contributed a chapter to a book on Workhouse Officials and Visitors to be published in spring 2025. Her research interests include poverty in Tudor and Stuart England and she is currently involved in a project on the work of female guardians.

Event Description

Using poor relief records, diaries and case studies this talk examines the remarkable work of women, such as Marie Corbett, who managed to remove children from the local workhouses into foster care at the end of the nineteenth century. The important relationship between these early female guardians and the suffragist movement is also discussed.

Presenter

Mary has been carrying out research into poverty in Sussex for several years. She completed a PhD on The impact of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act in Eastern Sussex in 2022 and has published an article on aspects of her research in Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol.155. She has also contributed a chapter to a book on Workhouse Officials and Visitors to be published in spring 2025. Her research interests include poverty in Tudor and Stuart England and she is currently involved in a project on the work of female guardians.