Disability
On the Lawn; Royal Hospital for Incurables at Putney Heath, London
Wood Engraving, 1881
Courtesy of Wellcome Library
CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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These stories include women or girls whose lives were touched by disabilities of some kind. You can access the stories by clicking on the women's names below.
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Here are some resources to help with this topic:
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A History of Disability from 1950 to the Present Day
There are articles about two institutions for the disabled on or Articles page
The Girls of The Cripples' Home, Hartshill, Staffordshire
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Elizabeth Eastburn, later Elizabeth Sledding aka Sledhill aka Blenkinsop, then Elizabeth Sawyer 1857-1937 from Leeds, Yorkshire - Disability, Lawbreaking, Poverty, Leeds Girls' Industrial School. 4 minute read.
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Betty Kershaw 1832-1877 from Leeds, Yorkshire - Disability, Domestic Abuse, Lawbreaking, Mental Health, Murder, Sickness. Warning, this story includes an account of domestic abuse. 12 minute read.
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Julia Mahoney, later Julia Loveridge 1897-1968 from Bermondsey, Surrey - Abandonment, Disability, Domestic Abuse, Lawbreaking, Poverty. 11 minute read. Please note that this story contains an account of domestic abuse.
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Sarah Ellen McDonald, later Sarah Copley 1857-1834 from Barnsley, Yorkshire – Disability, Lawbreaking, Poverty, Leeds Girls’ Industrial School. 2 minute read.
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Ellen O’Donoghue, later Ellen Heather 1863-1913 from London, Middlesex - Alcoholism, Disability, Lawbreaking, Mental Health, Poverty, St. Joseph’s Inebriate Reformatory. 3 minute read.
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Elizabeth Poskitt 1885-1954 from Pontefract, Yorkshire – Disability, No Descendants, Women at War, Voluntary Aid Detachment Personnel. 3 minute read.
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Elsie May Simon aka Elsie May Brock 1895-1975 from Wyton, Yorkshire - Alcoholism, Disability, Lawbreaking. 9 minute read.
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Bridget Toomey, aka Mary Ann Gotten, aka Bridget Smith c.1878-1943 and Mary Toomey 1879-? from Fulham, Middlesex Surrey - Alcoholism, Disability, Lawbreaking, Poverty, St. Joseph’s Inebriate Reformatory. 12 minute read.