Mrs Fouracre and the Married Widows of Cornwall: A talk by Dr Lesley Trotter
About the talk
The woman portrayed in Henry Scott Tuke’s work, The Message, currently on display in the Falmouth Art Gallery Collections Display, was his housekeeper, Elizabeth Fouracre.
Join us for a fascinating talk with Dr Lesley Trotter as she explores the unexpected connections between Mrs Fouracre’s life and one of the lesser-known aspects of the great Cornish emigration story, that of the thousands of wives ‘left behind’ by Cornishmen leaving to work abroad in the 19th century, the ‘married widows’.
About Lesley
Dr Lesley Trotter is a social historian, genealogist and writer with a special interest in combining family history and academic research techniques to reveal the hidden stories of the past. Her PhD in Cornish Studies at the University of Exeter focused on the experiences of wives ‘left behind’ by emigrating Cornish miners in the 19th century, and is now published as The Married Widows of Cornwall. Lesley gives frequent talks, works with arts groups on community history projects, and has featured in podcasts, and on radio and TV.
