Help us tell our story

Now we have got over the euphoria of winning a £10,000 Heritage Lottery grant it is time to start the hard work.

We need volunteers who are interested in contributing to a pioneering and creative project. You don't have to have any particular experience but just have a love of finding out and capturing interesting information on women. Most volunteers will work on the Elizabeth Treffry Collection in Penzance, but we are also looking for others to use collections and resources from elsewhere.

The kind of tasks we need help with are:

• researching the life stories of women who have lived, worked or come from Cornwall or Scilly
• photographing and scanning historical documents and artefacts
• creating art, music, poems or literature inspired by Cornish and Scillonian women
• work on our social media channels and blog (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube)
• writing short Wikipedia-style biographies
• entering information into the Cornish Women's Index (a free online database of words and images)
• participating in informal and fun workshops scheduled for venues across Cornwall in 2013.

What you will get in return

• free training
• a chance to undertake brand new historical research
• your name next to contributions on the Cornish Women's Index and website
• VIP guest at the History 51 party in November 2013.

Find out more about the women in your area or your family

Are you doing local or family history research? History 51 could be the project for you. We are looking for local and family historians to contribute new information on historical women they know about.

We would love to hear from you and help you collect and record information about these women.

Please share and display the History 51 poster!

If you think your group or organisation would be interested in History 51, please share and display our poster with them. Clicking on the poster will download a PDF version you can print out.

Yes Papa! Our latest addition

The Elizabeth Treffry Collection, like a healthy baby, seems to be growing by the minute. Our latest addition is a book by Barbara Eaton, from the Lizard in south west Cornwall, on Hester Chapone, an early Bluestocking.

Published by Francis Boutle Publishers and formally launched at the Hypatia Trust in 26 July 2012, Yes Papa! Mrs Chapone and the Bluestocking Circle is a biography of a mid 18th-century woman on a mission. She educated herself and quickly formed an essential part of the circle of Samuel Richardson. An abrupt end to married life left her in debt and she turned to writing to make ends meet. Letters on the Improvement of the Mind, published in 1773 became a bestseller for decades afterwards, quoted in the novels of Jane Austen and W.M. Thackeray. It was even famous enough to be satired in the anonymously published Anti-Chapone in 1810. Eaton restores Hester Chapone to her rightful place in the hall of fame of the Blue Stocking circle.

We are delighted to have this new addition to the collection and offer Barbara very sincere congratulations on the publication of yet another work that brings women in history to life.

In 2005, the Hypatia Trust published Barbara's highly commended book, Letters to Lydia: ‘beloved Persis’,  a story of a 19th-century love affair between Henry Martyn, a chaplain of the East India Company, and his 'beloved Persis' in Cornwall, Lydia Grenfell, based on their letters and diaries. It was runner up in the 2006 Holyer an Gof Awards for Literature of the Cornish Gorseth. George Care commented in Cornish World:

‘… this is a fascinating study and deserves to be widely read. Barbara Eaton and Hypatia have performed an excellent service’

Yes Papa! is available from all good booksellers or direct from the publishers, RRP £14.99 (Paperback 274 pages with 35 black and white illustrations. ISBN 978 1 903427 70 5).

.

What's in Hypatia's handbag?

A handbag?

An Interactive Exhibition celebrating and exploring the ‘mysteries’ and capacities of the handbag, opens on Sunday, 22 July 2012 for one week at Trevelyan House, 16 Chapel Street, Penzance.

Curated by artist and exhibitor Andrea Garrihy for the benefit of the Hypatia Trust’s Elizabeth Treffry Collection on Women in Cornwall and Scilly, the exhibitors invite visitors to discover different aspects of our handbag culture.

Download, share, print and display the posters

Hypatia's Handbag 1 (PDF, 51KB) Hypatia's Handbag 2 (PDF, 42KB)

‘What’s in your handbag?’ will be the big question

Delving into the handbag through art, literature, music, drama, news and fashion can reveal unique insights into our day to day lives and our individual personalities. In addition to Andrea’s handbag sculptures, writers, craftworkers and visual artists are opening their bags to reveal all manner of handbaggery!

Exhibitors include Jess Allen, John Garrihy, Jenny George, Laura Holliday, Susan Hoyle, David Kemp, Andrew Lanyon, Amanda Lorens, and Charlie Roff.

Handbags for sale for women in Cornwall collection

Handmade handbags will be on sale from local makers including Smart Tart, Poppy Treffry, Maurice Pearson and Shabby Cow. Vintage and contemporary handbags donated by supporters and friends will be on sale throughout the exhibition.

Proceeds will benefit the campaign for a publically-accessible home for the Elizabeth Treffry Collection.

So what's in your handbag? Take part!

Artist Mary Fletcher to document Penzance’s handbag culture

Mary will hold drawing sessions on: Monday 23 June (11-1pm) Tuesday (11-1pm) Wednesday 25th July (1-3pm)

Every object tells a story

Visitors can open and investigate the contents from the depths of their own and other handbags. Every object tells a story and the top ten handbag contents will be exhibited, as will some of the more bizarre contents.

Hypatia’s Handbag, A Fable

Local history author, Susan Hoyle, has written an original legend for the exhibition, entitled Hypatia’s Handbag, A Fable, which is being printed and hand-bound in limited edition. Purchasers of bags to the value of £10 or more will receive a free book. Others may purchase copies of the tale.

Opening hours

The exhibition opens on Sunday 22 July from 3pm to 5pm at Trevelyan House, 16 Chapel Street, Penzance.

Opening hours 23-29 July: 11am to 5pm.

The exhibition runs in parallel with the Penzance Literary Festival.

For more information, please call the Hypatia Trust on 01736 366597.