In the second series of A Feminist Family History, DrKate Carruthers Thomas shares insights into her research on three generations of the Kelynack family of Newlyn, Cornwall, spanning three generations from 1860 to 1950. She highlights how social, economic, and gender roles evolved within a changing community, emphasising women's experiences and family dynamics.

There's a family tree at Series 2 - A Feminist Family History in Three Generations

LILLIAN'S STORY

Discover the story of Lillian Smith Kelynack, a woman whose life spanned from 1894 to 1975, showcasing the evolving social roles of women, the impact of war, and the importance of overlooked personal histories. This episode weaves together insights on family traditions, societal shifts, and women's roles across three generations of the Kelynack family in Cornwall and beyond.

Key Sources:

Crampton, C. (2018) Shedunnit. Surplus Women Transcript

D-Day Landings - Falmouth Official

Horn, P. (2009) My ancestor was in service. London,Society of Genealogists.

Lomax, P (ed.) (2018) Newlyn At War. Newlyn Archive

In the second series of A Feminist Family History, Dr Kate Carruthers Thomas shares insights into her research on three generations of the Kelynack family of Newlyn, Cornwall, spanning three generations from 1860 to 1950. She highlights how social, economic, and gender roles evolved within a changing community, emphasising women's experiences and family dynamics.

There's a family tree at Series 2 - A Feminist Family History in Three Generations

Departures

Discover the stories of emigration within the Kelynack family, exploring why they left Cornwall, their destinations, and the experiences they encountered seaborne and on arrival. This episode also delves into the broader context of Cornwall’s emigration history, gender roles, and the impacts on those left behind.

In this episode:

The long history of Cornish emigration since the 18th centuryPush and pull factors

Personal stories:

• Joshua Kelynack emigrates to South Africa in 1902 and Lois Pollard follows him to Cape Town in 1904
• William Kelynack emigrates to the United States in 1923 and returns to marry his wife Annie in 1929. The couple return to Detroit.

The impact of emigration on families, communities, and Cornwall itself

Key Sources:

Cornish carols: Heritage in California and South Australia | Institute of Cornish Studies | University of Exeter

Cornish diaspora - Wikipedia

The Cornish Diaspora | Institute of Cornish Studies | University of Exeter

Cornish Mining in Australia - Cornish Mining World Heritage Site

Detroit History | City of Detroit

District Six, Cape Town | South African History Online

Ford Highland Park Plant | Detroit Historical Society

History Of The White Star Line | Historic Denver/Molly Brown House Museum

International Pasty Festival - Wikipedia

''Nineteenth-Century British Female Emigration Societies''

Solnit, R. (2011) A Book of Migrations. London: Verso.

The Cornishman (newspaper) - Wikipedia

The Great Migration (1910-1970) | National Archives

Union-Castle Line - Wikipedia

In the second series of A Feminist Family History, DrKate Carruthers Thomas shares insights into her research on three generations of the Kelynack family of Newlyn, Cornwall, spanning three generations from 1860 to 1950. She highlights how social, economic, and gender roles evolved within a changing community, emphasising women's experiences and family dynamics.

There's a family tree at Series 2 - A Feminist Family History in Three Generations

School Days

This episode follows school experiences acrossthree generations of the Kelynack family, moving from Newlyn, Cornwall in 1881 to Mousehole in 1921 and then to Highland Park, Detroit in 1950. It shows how schooling expanded over time, but also how class, gender, and familyexpectations still shaped what boys and girls could do with that education.

Key Sources:

Elementary Education Act 1870 - Wikipedia

Lomax, P (ed.) (2012) Newlyn at School 1846-1946. Newlyn Archives

In the second series of A Feminist Family History, DrKate Carruthers Thomas shares insights into her research on three generations of the Kelynack family of Newlyn, Cornwall, spanning three generations from 1860 to 1950. She highlights how social, economic, and gender roles evolved within a changing community, emphasising women's experiences and family dynamics.

There's a family tree at Series 2 - A Feminist Family History in Three Generations

Life Chances

This episode follows the Kelynack family through three erasto show how health, illness, healthcare, and women’s reproductive lives changed over time. Kcompares child mortality in the 1870s, working-class healthcare in 1911, and the growing but still limited world of contraception and infertility treatment in the 1920s and 1930s. The episode discusses the pressures ofpoverty, the impact of infectious disease before antibiotics, and how medical knowledge expanded while access remained unequal.

Key Sources:

National Insurance Act 1911 | Policy NavigatorJose Harris Private Lives Public Spirit: Britain 1870-1914

History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy - Western Union

Marie Stopes opened the UK’s first birth control clinic 100 years ago – she was also a eugenicist

Poor law but better care - British Society for the History of Medicine

Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918

In the second series of A Feminist Family History, Dr Kate Carruthers Thomas shares insights into her research on three generations of the Kelynack family of Newlyn, Cornwall, spanning three generations from 1860 to 1950. She highlights how social, economic, and gender roles evolved within a changing community, emphasising women's experiences and family dynamics.

There's a family tree at Series 2 - A Feminist Family History in Three Generations

A Roof Over Their Heads

This episode explores how three generations of the Kelynack family lived in their homes in Newlyn and Detroit. Dr. Kate Carruthers Thomas uses census records and household detail to show how domestic space, labour,and gender roles shaped family life from 1881 to 1940. Listeners will hear about the cramped fishing cottages of Church Street in Newlyn in 1881, the changing household patterns of the next generation in 1911, and the very different world of a Detroit bungalow in Highland Park, Detroit, USA in 1940. Across all three homes, the episode asks how class, work, migration, and women’s unpaid labour shaped everyday life.

Key Sources:

The Detroit Bungalow

Ford Highland Park Plant | Detroit Historical Society

The Newlyn Clearances, part I: the Gwavas Estate – ‘among the monstrosities being condemned by architectural experts’ | Municipal Dreams

Did you know? ... About 'Rosebud' & the Newlyn Clearances? - Newlyn FISH Trust

Sagar-Fenton, M. (2003). The Rosebud and the Newlyn Clearances. Truro: Truran

Segregation and White Flight in Detroit

The Great Migration (1910-1970) | National Archives

The Newlyn Fishing Riots of 1896 – Kernow Goth

In the second series of A Feminist Family History, DrKate Carruthers Thomas shares insights into her research on three generations of the Kelynack family of Newlyn, Cornwall, spanning three generations from 1860 to 1950. She highlights how social, economic, and gender roles evolved within a changing community, emphasising women's experiences and family dynamics.

Introducing the Kelynacks

In this episode, Kate introduces the three generations of Kelynacks who will feature in this series. The family have a long history in Newlyn's fishing industry, an industry which depends on all family members to sustain it. Meet Margaretta and Thomas Kelynack, their eight children and twenty-two grandchildren.

There's a family tree at

Series 2 - A Feminist Family History in Three Generations

Key Sources:

Cornish diaspora - Wikipedia

The Cornish Diaspora | Institute of Cornish Studies | University of Exeter