SALON NO.136: Forgotten Pioneers of London

London has always been shaped by remarkable women, though history has often overlooked them

Historian BEX COUPER leads us on a journey through nearly two thousand years of London’s history, introducing an extraordinary cast of women whose stories deserve to be far better known.

Meet investors who took on the South Sea Bubble, Cheapside shopkeepers, formidable entrepreneurs, bare-knuckle boxers and determined professionals who carved out careers in worlds dominated by men.

Along the way we’ll encounter a Pr*son reformer, Britain's first female physician; an accountant who finally achieved chartered status at the age of seventy-five, a cross-dressing thief and the ‘She-Wolf’ of France, whose ghost is said to haunt a London churchyard.

Meanwhile, DR JENNY LANGE explores how London women have transformed medical science through groundbreaking research and innovation whilst fighting for recognition in a profession that routinely excluded them. Despite formidable barriers, they made discoveries that changed medicine and laid the foundations for future generations.

We hear of Mary Barkas, the first female psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, whose pioneering work advanced the understanding of mental illness; and Janet Vaughan, the haematologist whose scientific achievements left an enduring legacy, while maintaining close connections with the Bloomsbury Group.

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BEX COUPER was a BBC journalist before becoming a London historian, Blue Badge and City of London tour guide whose work brings the city’s hidden histories vividly to life through walks, talks and writing.

DR JENNY LANGE is a neuroscientist and science communicator with a passion for uncovering the overlooked stories of women whose discoveries changed the course of medical history.

Our home, , is a unique Grade II listed not-for-profit,, independent arts venue within the only existing unspoilt example of a two-floor, purpose-built stable with public access in London.

Built in 1797 by James Burton, the shell is constructed with London Stocks whilst the interior features a mock cobbled concrete floor and ramps with slats to prevent the horses from slipping. Each floor has five cast iron pillars and several original iron tethering rings.

There will be a bar to purchase drinks