Mudpies mudlarks

 Father - daughter team Andy and Josie are a fab, fun pair to join on their mud-ventures, whether in the waterways or digging dump sites in the woods there is enjoyment to be had in their finds, the mud and the usual tank traps.

The Invisible Woman by Claire Tomalin

 This exceedingly well-researched biography paints a clear picture of the life of both women in the theatre, and of those who dared try to exist outside its confines.

But, actually, that is not entirely true as it was the likes of Dickens and his mates who strove to paint pretty little dovecotes in which to imprison their ideal woman, keeping her saintly, pure, out of politics, art, and certainly not allow her any agency of her own. 

Trollope, of the Anthony variety, was brother-in-law to two or more such females of the species who had intellect, ability for writing, journalism, languages, sciences, and yet...

And yet they died in poverty.
They always die in poverty.
Languishing in the dust of disinterest and ignorance these difficult women, who will not fit neatly or quietly in those pretty prisons, await to be discovered decades or centuries after the male has sated his fill of publicity, after the male ego has been patted enough to silence his fangirls for a couple of years.
These women are never promoted by these males, these so-called bastions of literature who have been studied endlessly in secondary schools, in books where they paint women as less than males.
And we wonder why there is War on Women...!
Charles Dickens was dodgy AF.
Giving the bugger serious side-eye re his wife's sister...well, I should say "sisterS".
Women in his books are never nice, normal, independent, intelligent people - they are always "less", sex-worker Nancy in Oliver Twist, Oliver's mother herself a fallen saint, Great Expectations, I mean to say!
And let's not forget the statement that his poor, long-suffering wife was 'insane' when he decided to have his mid-life crisis but wanted to keep the good PR rolling along.
Remind me again - exactly WHY do we think these 'masters' of literature are the best for our kids to study before they venture into adulthood?
My takeaway review - 
A MUCH OLDER MARRIED wealthy bloke got his own way by beginning a sexual relationship with a TEENAGER whose family consisted of a widowed mother, 2 sisters and NO INCOME.

Magnet fishers Peaky Dippers UK and Sash window weights

 Yep, I've become addicted to these dedicated History Hunters.

Today's video features some of my fav mudlarks, Nicola White and Si Finds, as well as sash window weights.

Now, what the effing heck are people tossing sash weights into the Thames for?
It's not like we're talking one or 3, it's a regular thing they find. 
Hefty sash weights.
Boat anchors? Fishing weights? How big are the pike?! 
Is there a secret society of frustrated window hangers collecting their weights each week and merrily tossing them into the Thames under cover of darkness?
And flat irons are another that are often found in the river.
Now I CAN picture London Suffragettes lining the waterway and, with gay abandon, happily shot-putting their 4-letter word into the drink.

Rosalind Marie Scholz nee King Missing Wives

 Rosalind was reported missing by her estranged hubby in February 1903.
After a volatile relationship, with several police home visits and court appearances, Rosalind supposedly went missing from the spare bedroom of her estranged hubby's house a mere day or 3 before they were to appear in court over Edward paying maintenance to Rosalind.

Her family were distraught at her disappearance, with her already ailing father offering financial rewards for any information as to her whereabouts, which remained unpaid up til his death later that year.

Rosalind did not attend her beloved father's funeral or burial.

Edward was declared bankrupt in late 1903.

In 1907 Edward was granted a divorce on the grounds of desertion, and then remarried.

Rosalind does not have a death certificate nor did she remarry as far as I am able to find ***with limited resources***

I am happy to be corrected!

Sources

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/251628029?searchTerm=rosalind%20scholz

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208470760?searchTerm=rosalind%20scholz

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/198610441?searchTerm=rosalind%20scholz

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/251628029?searchTerm=rosalind%20scholz

Heart attack healthy cooking ; cakes

1 cup of toasted muesli (of choice)

1 cup skim milk

1 cup SR Flour

1 cup dried mixed fruit

2 teaspoons sugar - Optional

Soak muesli in milk for 1 hour

Stir in SR Flour, mix well

Add the dried mixed fruit, and sugar (optional)

Mix well, spoon into patty cake moulds

Bake at 185 Celsius for 30 - 35 mins or until knife/skewer comes out clean

Makes 12

Journalism 1903 King Dick Wins Again

 Ahh, back in the old days...

Source; https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/234793345?searchTerm=sydney%20%20king

Teacher's Pet podcast, Missing Wife, Missing girls

 Hmm.
Seems that a "missing wife" is more than just a missing woman.
Yeah, yeah, WE all know that but it seems the penny has just dropped for some law people in Australia; if Teacher's Pet has taught us anything it's that WE SHOULDN'T JUST RELY ON THE HUSBAND.

Just a small, slight consideration that hasn't jumped up and slapped a whole gender in the face, apparently.

I digress.
Pottering amidst the glories of archived news at Trove, I've often come across "missing wife" or "missing wife and children" headlines and sometimes I go looking to see if the wife and/or kids turned up in the births/deaths/marriages.
Most times, there's a further trace of them.
But sometimes there's not a speck.
One of the "missing wife and children" was one of those that never, ever showed a sign of life: hubby didn't report the disappearance for at least 4 weeks, and no follow-up news reports.
Likewise with searching "Missing girls" in the Sydney area during the early days of The Great Depression; I was following a hunch regarding a certain serial killer I'd been researching and, worryingly, I was unable to trace a good number of the reported "missing girls" - any number over zero is too fucking many.
But few police or news follow-ups, while casual trawling through the NSW Birth/Deaths/Marriages found gaps.

How many family trees have sudden stops on people's lives..."born 1922 disappeared 1945" ... 

And the odd thing I've noticed is - 

when a bloke goes missing in the news archives he usually turns up again, whereas women don't.