Towns

Sheffield

South Yorkshire

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Old records mostly wrote about men: kings, lords and cutlers. That doesn't mean women weren't here! These are women connected to Sheffield that we know about. Can you find out about more?
MS

Mary, Queen of Scots

1542–1587
Held prisoner here
Queen of Scotland from 1542 until 1567. Elizabeth I saw her as a threat, and from 1570 she spent most of 14 years held in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor by George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, the husband of Bess of Hardwick.
AB

A. S. Byatt

1936–2023
Born here
A novelist, poet, critic and short-story writer, born Antonia Susan Drabble in Sheffield. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages.
MD

Margaret Drabble

Born here
A novelist, biographer and short-story writer, born in Sheffield in 1939. She is the younger sister of A. S. Byatt.
HS

Helen Sharman

Born here
A chemist born in Grenoside, Sheffield, who studied at the University of Sheffield. In May 1991 she became the first British person in space, and the first woman to visit the Mir space station.
JE

Jessica Ennis-Hill

Born here
An athlete born in Sheffield in 1986, who won the heptathlon at the 2012 Olympics and was three times world champion. She was a member of the City of Sheffield & Dearne athletic club.