Janet Axten - Researcher, Writer, and Lecturer

cREDIT: Adj Brown/ adjbrown.com

Janet is a researcher, writer, and lecturer; for many years she has specialised in the history of the St Ives area and the artists who have lived and worked in the local community. Janet is now concentrating on researching the women who worked in the textile industry in West Cornwall.

Born in London, Janet moved to St Ives from Birmingham in 1985. In 1993 she graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in History from the Open University and in 2004 gained an MA in Cornish Studies with the University of Exeter.

Janet acted as personal assistant to Patrick Heron from 1988 until his death in 1999. Later that year she became the personal assistant to the artist Bryan Pearce until his death in 2007. In 2000 Janet wrote Bryan Pearce: The Artist and his Work, and four years later, Bryan Pearce and his Artist Friends.

 Following her three-year association with the St Ives Tate Action Group (STAG), which raised substantial funds towards the building of Tate St Ives, she wrote Gasworks to Gallery: The Story of Tate St Ives, published in 1995. Janet became a Specialist at the Tate and regularly gave talks on the displays to visiting groups.

 In 1996 she co-founded, and for twenty-four years was Heritage Manager of the St Ives Archive, a charitable organisation staffed by volunteers, that collects and stores information about all aspects of St Ives and its history. Janet has been on the Committee of the St Ives September Festival and is currently on the committees of the Friends of St Ives Library (FOSIL) and the St Ives Community Charter Group. Janet is a Trustee of the St Ives Arts Club.

 As well as currently researching women in the textile industry, a subject that has so far never been explored, Janet is an inaugural member of the recently created ‘Crysede Collective’. The Collective brings together curators, specialists, students, and makers from across Cornwall to celebrate the working processes of the Crysede Silk Company (1918-1953) which was based in St Ives between 1926 and 1939. Her particular interest covers the detailed history of the company itself and the women who worked there.

 In 2008 Janet was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh with the bardic name of Porthia y’m Kolonn-vy (St Ives in my Heart).

Instagram: @textilesincornwall

What do I consider is my greatest achievement?

Being able to grow as a person, especially later in life, because of the people I have met and the things I have learned. As a result, I have gained in confidence and found the energy to take on a series of projects I should once never have thought possible.

What motivates me to do what I do?

Being given a task and accomplishing it successfully. Public speaking to appreciative audiences is especially important to me. It provides opportunities to share ideas and findings on a variety of subjects with my listeners. Then, following on through general discussions, I add to my knowledge and widen my group of interested contacts.

What do I owe my mother?

Her resilience, her strength of purpose, and being able to take an interest in the people around her, even as she approached her 100th birthday.

Which women inspire you and why?

Women who are independently minded, no matter what course in life they pursue; especially if they can achieve their goals in the face of adversity.  I am also inspired by women who can teach me to see the world in a different way.

What am I reading?

Patch Work: A Life Amongst Clothes by Claire Wilcox, Bloomsbury 2020

The Point of the Needle: Why Sewing Matters by Barbara Burman, Reaktion Books, 2023

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubbenhold, Black Swan, 2020

The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton: Victorian England’s “Scandal of the Century” and the Fallen Socialite Who Changed Women’s Lives Forever by Diane Atkinson, Chicago Review Press, 2013

The Walnut Tree: Women, Violence, and the Law — A Hidden History by Kate Morgan, Mudlark, 2024

What gender barriers have you had to hurdle?

More than sixty years ago I trained as a secretary. In those days women were not expected to have a career other than teaching, nursing, office work, or – more significantly – being a housewife. As the years went by, I was able to move outside those stereotypical roles. For probably twenty years, I didn’t have a great deal of ambition, so accepted life as it came along. When I moved to St Ives almost forty years ago, I very soon discovered that I was part of an energetic and creative community within which I could play a role using my early skills. During this time, I have always been myself. If I have come across barriers of any kind, I take a different path.

How could the world be made a better place for women?

Current entrenched misogynistic attitudes across the world ensures that the lives of women are constantly being put dangerously at risk. Until men learn to understand and appreciate that living and working alongside women is for everyone’s mutual benefit, there will always be a wide imbalance between the sexes.

Describe your perfect day?

A perfect day is when I can add to the research I am doing, perhaps because of an unexpected conversation or something I have read. Fitting in a solitary walk is important, as I love to explore the countryside around St Ives – it is so much more peaceful than the town. And it is usually on those occasions, with nothing to interrupt my thoughts, that I come up with positive ideas.

Statues of women around Cornwall – who would I like to see remembered?

I am not a great fan of statues. I think that women who have made a positive impact in their community should be remembered by having buildings/rooms etc named after them. Then, when events take place in those venues, their names are continuously recalled. In this way a greater number of women can be honoured.

A tip?

Always be curious by asking questions.