Talks
I am an approved speaker for the Federation of Essex Women's Institutes (FEWI), and am happy to carry out history talks for a range of groups in Essex and south Suffolk within a 30 minute drive of Colchester.
In addition to doing talks for WIs, I have been booked as a speaker at Friendship Clubs and Rotary Clubs, and can also speak at local history groups.
My fee for any talk is £35, plus mileage (WI country mileage rate is 45p per mile).
To find out more about the talks I offer, see below or download the PDF.
Unlucky Princesses
Not all princesses live happily ever after. Some were murdered by their husbands. Some died on their way to the wedding. Some lived in misery in a foreign land, surrounded by people who hated them for their birth country. Find out some of their stories with this talk!
Nancy, Noor, Christine: Three Women of SOE
Special Operations Executive (SOE) operated in occupied countries during the Second World War. It surprises many that women were active SOE agents, helping fight back against Nazism.
This talk looks at three of those women; Nancy Wake, Noor Inayat Khan, and Christine Chilver.
Almost Kings: The Men and Boys Who Never Got a Crown
History is littered with would-be heirs to the throne. In a world without antibiotics or vaccines, death stalked royal nurseries or felled even the healthiest of young men.
And some were even murdered to prevent them getting their crown!
Two versions of this talk are offered, one focusing on the English monarchy, and the other on various European royal families.
Almost Queens
What does a Princess do? Marry an heir to the throne, eventually become Queen.
But fate can intervene! Sometimes your Prince Charming dies. Sometimes he decides to divorce you. And occasionally you find yourself at the sharp end of a sword! This talk looks at several women who never became Queen.
Royal Mistresses
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a King will be in want of a mistress. Even the most happily married monarch has been found entertaining himself with another woman or two through his life.
In this talk we look at some of the women who have acted as the “Other Woman” for a European king.
Desperately Seeking Sons
King Henry VIII is famous for marrying six times in his desperate quest for a son. But although he was the most married of all English monarchs he had a few close contenders across Europe.
In this talk we’ll have a brief look at several European monarchs, and the lives of the women they sacrificed in their need for a male heir.
