Old records mostly wrote about men: kings, lords and fishermen. That doesn't mean women weren't here! Barking Abbey was a monastery for women for almost 900 years. These are women connected to Barking and Dagenham that we know about. Can you find out about more?
W
Wulfhilda
Abbess here
Became abbess of Barking around 963, after the abbey was refounded as a community only for women. Later her relics were kept in the abbey's saints' chapel, beside those of Ethelburga and Hildelith.
CB
Clemence of Barking
Nun here
A nun at Barking Abbey in the 1100s and a rare female author for her time. Among other works she wrote a new kind of life of St Catherine of Alexandria, a saint linked with women's learning.
MB
Mabel de Bosham
Abbess here
Abbess of Barking from 1215 to 1247. She rededicated the abbey church.
MW
Mary Wollstonecraft
Lived here
Born in Spitalfields in 1759. Her family moved to Barking when her father, a weaver, tried to become a farmer there.
AH
Annie Huggett
Campaigned here
From a young age she was a well-known local Suffragette activist. She died in 1996, aged 104.
CL
Charlotte Lamb
1937–2000
Born here
Born Sheila Coates in Dagenham in 1937. As Charlotte Lamb, and under several other names, she became a novelist.
GV
Gee Vaucher
born 1945
Born here
Born Carole Vaucher in Dagenham in 1945. A visual artist known for her work with the punk band Crass, she makes collage, painting, illustration, photography, sculpture and film.
SS
Sandie Shaw
born 1947
Born here
Born Sandra Goodrich and brought up in Dagenham. After school she worked at the Ford Dagenham factory. As a pop singer she had three UK number ones, and in 1967 she became the first entrant from the UK to win the Eurovision Song Contest, with 'Puppet on a String'.
SP
Sara Pascoe
born 1981
Born here
Born in Dagenham in 1981, she went to school in Barking. She is a comedian, actress, presenter and writer, and has appeared on Taskmaster and QI.
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The nuns of Barking Abbey: the abbey existed for almost 900 years. In 1404 it had a librarian, and when it closed in 1539 the abbess and 30 nuns formally surrendered it.
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The Ford sewing machinists: in 1968 women workers at the Ford Dagenham plant walked out in protest against sex discrimination and unequal pay. The film Made in Dagenham (2010) tells their story.