Old records mostly wrote about men: kings, lords and priests. That doesn't mean women weren't here! These are women connected to Hounslow that we know about. Can you find out about more?
DD
Dorothy Devereux
Married into Syon
Younger daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex. When she married Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, in 1594, Elizabeth I leased him the manor of Syon.
P
Pocahontas
Lived here
A Native American woman of the Powhatan people. In 1616–1617 she lived in Brentford with her husband, John Rolfe, and their son, Thomas.
MC
Mary Cromwell
Lived here
Daughter of Oliver Cromwell. She lived at Sutton Manor in Little Sutton from 1676 until her death in 1713.
KW
Kaye Webb
1914–1996
Born here
An editor and publisher, born in Chiswick in 1914. She has been called an 'enormously influential children's editor'.
IM
Iris Murdoch
1919–1999
Grew up here
A novelist and philosopher, born in Dublin and brought up in Chiswick, where she lived on Eastbourne Road.
SS
Sylvia Syms
1934–2023
Lived here
An actress who starred in films such as Ice Cold in Alex. She lived on Dukes Avenue in Chiswick.
KW
Kim Wilde
born 1960
Born here
A singer, born in Chiswick after the Second World War.
EP
Erin Pizzey
Opened a refuge here
In 1971 she set up the world's first refuge for women and children escaping domestic violence, at 2 Belmont Terrace, Chiswick, calling her organisation Chiswick Women's Aid.
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Nuns of the Swedish Bridgettine order built Syon Monastery on land Henry V gave them in 1415, and in 1422 he gave them Isleworth manor too.