Donna McGlynn
Gallus Girls and Wayward WomenEpisodes
Episodes of Gallus Girls and Wayward Women
Mark All
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Mary Mallon emigrated to America as teenager in 1883. She became famous for being the first person in the Untied States to be identified as an asymptomatic carrier of Typhoid Fever. Mary is believed to have infected 53 people over a period of
Although Constance Markiewicz had been elected to parliament before her but refused to take her seat, Nancy Astor was the American whirlwind who became the first female British MP in 1919. She did a heap of good, but life is complicated and HER
In early 1817, a mystery woman showed up in the town of Almondsbury in Gloucester, England. She seemed disoriented, and when she spoke her words were incomprehensible to English ears. The only thing anyone could discern was that she called hers
Teeny tiny Katherine Howard was Henry VIII's fifth and youngest wife. He met Katherine when he was almost fifty, and stuck in a marriage that made him miserable. Katherine, young and full of life enchanted him, and she was still only a teenager
Jessica Mitford was the communist ‘red sheep’ of the aristocratic, fascist sympathising Mitford clan. Known as ‘Decca’, she was the sister of novelist Nancy, Diana (who was the wife of fascist Oswald Mosley) and Unity, who was the subject of ou
Although the rest of her family were fascist sympathisers of one sort or another, which was common among upper classes in inter-war Britain, Unity Mitford became an extreme right winger, a fanatical fascist who described herself as a "jew hater
Described by some as "the Sarah Bernhardt of opera", Mary Garden was an actress, a talented singer, and quite the character. She was famous for her formidable vocal range and she first rose to success in Paris during the first decade of the 2
We go back once again to Tudor times to look at the life of Henry VIII's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. She has gone down in history (unfairly) as the ugly fat dim one, the one Henry was so repelled by, he couldn't consummate the marriage. Anne w
Alexandra Feodorovna, formerly Princess Alix Victoria Helena Louise Beatrice Von Hesse and By Rhine, was grand daughter to Queen Victoria, daughter of Princess Alice of Great Britain, and the last Tsarina of Russia. As a young woman, Alex fell
One of the most beautiful and enigmatic actresses of Hollywood's first century, the words ‘dark angel’ summed up Merle’s hauntingly beautiful, exotic looks perfectly. She was, in fact, Anglo-Indian, something which back in those days would hav
Rising from humble origins during a brutal and turbulent period of British history, Bess became the second most powerful woman in England after the Queen. She used her skills to navigate the risky world of the Tudor court and outlived monarchs
Said to be Winston Churchill's favourite spy, Christine was an adrenaline junkie and a countess by birth whose jaw dropping bravery during the Second World War saved many many lives. Over the course of her wartime career, a knack for repeatedly
When American-born English socialite Nancy Astor entered the House of Commons on 1 December 1919, she became the first female MP in British history to take a seat in parliament. But although Nancy was the first woman to take her seat, she wasn'
Jane has always been portrayed as a meek and watery woman, the exact opposite of her predecessor Anne Boleyn, and whose only effect on the turbulent world in which she lived was to provide Henry VIII with the son he desired, then quietly fade a
Although these five women - Mary Ann, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary Jane - probably never met each other, they had some things in common, including grinding poverty, casual prostitution, the year of their murders, and the likely-hood tha
Evelyn Dove was Britain's first black show business star. She was a true pioneer - she was the first black woman to sing on BBC radio, and the first black singer to move from Britain to make a splash in America. After the second world war, she
Barbara Villiers, Lady Castlemaine, Duchess of Cleveland, was the most notorious mistress of The Merry Monarch, King Charles 2nd of England, who fathered 5 of her children. Her influence on the king was so great, and she was such a force to be
In 1746 a young woman, Flora MacDonald, sailed over the sea to Skye with her Irish "maid", Betty Burke. The "maid" was actually Prince Charles Edward Stuart, a fugitive from the forces of King George II who were hunting him following his escape
Grace O'Mally, The Pirate Queen, was a flamboyant outlaw and the scourge of the Western Approaches. An unsung Celtic heroine, Grace's story is outrageous, involving kidnap, murder, piracy and intrigue. She lived in a time of great change - in 1
Described by her enemies as a "goggle eyed whore",Anne Boleyn was the first English queen to be publicly executed. Five hundred years after her death, her tragic tale is still the subject of historians and the inspiration for films. Out of all
Enid Blyton's books were the height of escapism for children. She told stories of youngsters who were free to roam around unsupervised; children whose parents were conveniently absent, allowing them to explore the dens of smugglers, kidnappers
Lydia Thompson is one of the legends of the music hall and considered by many to be THE original Queen of Burlesque. Lydia and her chorus line, The British Blondes, electrified the stages of British Victorian Muisc Halls and introduced Burlesqu
Fanny Cradock was one of the first tv chefs, terrifying viewers and employees alike from the fifties until the 1990s. Her on and off-screen shenanigans were the stuff of nightmares and she is still (in)famous over twenty years after her death.
Donna and Tom discuss the Victiorian poet, Christina Rossetti. A member of the remarkable Rossetti family (her brother was the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood) her most famous poem is probably "Gobl
Welcome to Episode 8! Here we will talk about Catalina, or Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand, the King and Queen of Spain. Betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, from the age of 4, Catherine's fate would involve widowhood a
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