Dewsbury History Group set to present ‘Acclaimed Women Of Yorkshire’ talk at town hall

Included in Stuart’s talk will be four women from Dewsbury, the late Baroness Betty Boothroyd - the first and only female Speaker of the House of Commons - Eileen Fenton, winner of the 1950 cross-channel swim, Dianne Thompson, the first chief executive of Camelot Lottery, and Hannah Butcher from Thornhill who captained Leeds Rhinos.

Film slides of all these four women will be shown during the talk, including those of Eileen Fenton's street party in Thornhill Lees when she returned home from her swim.

Other Yorkshire women to be featured in the talk will include swimmer Anita Lonsborough from Huddersfield, Katherine Kelly from Wakefield, Amanda Owen, from Almondbury, and many more.

Stuart is also working on a new talk called 'Made in Yorkshire' which is set to include businesses, as opposed to people, such as Castleford's Kipling Cakes, the largest confectionery factory in Europe, Double TWO shirts in Wakefield, Angloco in Batley - the largest maker of firefighting equipment in the UK - and many more.

Also to be included in this new talk will be Waddingtons, a Leeds-based manufacturer of card and board games and Reddicut in Ossett, the oldest crafting company in UK.

The Acclaimed Women of Yorkshire talk will take place in Dewsbury Town Hall’s council chamber on Thursday, March 30, from 7.30.pm.

Refreshments will be available from 7pm.

Admission is free for members, £3 for non-members.