Forgotten Stories: How Women Have Shaped the Stationers' Company Throughout Its History
“A Youth may be set a-float in the World as soon as he has got a Trade in his Head… but a Girl is such a tender, ticklish Plant to rear, tha[t] there is no permitting her out of Leading-strings till she is bound to a Husband.” – Robert Campbell, The London Tradesman, 1747
For our 2025 Archive Evening, we investigated how women have contributed to, influenced and shaped our Company throughout its history. 1556 saw our first woman to bind an apprentice, 1688 our first woman freeman and in 1933, our first liveryman and later Court Assistant.
As we celebrated the new portrait of our first woman Master in 2015, our theme revolved around the unsung stories from the past showing how women have made and continue to make their mark.
This online exhibition draws on the physical exhibition curated by Beth DeBold as part of the practical component in a Collaborative Doctoral Award scheme run by the University of Newcastle in partnership with the Stationers’ Company. It reflects Beth’s in-depth study of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English book trade. All captions are written by Beth.
