Hall of Fame: Throwing Stones, Winning the Vote and Changing Women's History

Hall of Fame: Throwing Stones, Winning the Vote and Changing Women's History

Author: trappedhistory September 16, 2025 Duration: 7:27

Join us for Helen Lewis' nominee for the Trapped History Hall of Fame: Constance Bulwer-Lytton, daughter of a Viceroy, sister to an Earl – but one of the bravest suffragettes of them all.

In changing women's history, she was imprisoned four times for campaigning for the vote, carved "V" for votes on her breast, went on hunger strike and was force-fed by prison guards.

In Constance's own words, which can stand for so much political action:

"People say, what does this hunger strike mean? Surely it is all folly. If it is not hysteria, at least it is unreasonable. They will not realise that we are like an army, that we are deputed to fight for a cause, and for other people, and in any struggle or any fight, weapons must be used . . . These women have chosen the weapon of self-hurt to make their protest, and this hunger strike . . . involves grave hurt and tremendous sacrifice, but this is on the part of the women only, and does not physically injure their enemies. Can that be called violence and hooliganism?"

Constance celebrated women winning the vote in 1918, a milestone in women's history – but she did not live to see women wield the vote in true equality with men. Because it was only at the 1929 general election that men and women aged 21 and over entered the voting booth as equals. But Constance, fatally weakened by her treatment in prison, had already died six years earlier in 1923, at the age of 54.

Hers was a bright short life in women's history: forgotten, unsung and hidden – but it is one captured beautifully by Helen here.



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Head over to www.trappedhistory.com to sign up to the award-winning podcast, get our newsletter, bonus episodes and much, much more.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


Trapped History digs into the corners of the past that standard narratives often overlook, guided by James Baldwin's idea that people and history are mutually confined. This podcast is a deliberate effort to loosen that grip, one story at a time. You'll hear detailed accounts of individuals and events sidelined by traditional textbooks, from strategic minds in forgotten battles to cultural pioneers whose influence was deliberately minimized. Each episode reconstructs a specific moment or life, focusing on the nuanced realities of women's history, Black history, military history, and cultural history. The aim is to provide a more complete and human picture, moving beyond dates and dominant names to the textures of lived experience. By engaging with these overlooked chapters, the podcast invites a deeper understanding of how our present is shaped. It’s for anyone who suspects there's more to the story, offering a thoughtful and researched alternative to the history many of us were first taught. Listening feels like a conversation with a knowledgeable friend, one committed to unearthing truths that resonate with our contemporary world. The result is an educational and compelling narrative that challenges simple takeaways, encouraging listeners to question what they think they know about the forces that have built and bound our societies.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 76

Trapped History
Podcast Episodes
Remembering the Ordinary: The Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:19
Trapped History reveals the hidden stories of unsung heroes. But as we hit mid-season, we thought we'd do something slightly different: look at a whole bunch of unsung heroes. The Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice in fac…
The Four Heroic Lives of Johnny Smythe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:10
Trapped History reveals the hidden stories of unsung heroes. In this episode, we explore the world of Johnny Smythe – four heroes in one, across three continents.Sierra Leonean Johnny was an RAF bomber navigator, a Priso…
Adelaide Hall: The Greatest Singer you've Never Heard Of [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:11
Trapped History reveals the hidden stories of unsung heroes. In this episode, we explore the world of Adelaide Hall, the greatest singer we’d never heard of.Ella Fitzgerald called her the first lady of jazz. She was the…
The Many Tangled Lives of Peter Stevens [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:19
Trapped History shares the hidden stories of unsung heroes. In this episode, we explore the world of Peter Stevens, a complex courageous man who speaks to our age more than anyone we've come across before.Peter is a chan…
Nellie Bly: The Greatest Person Ever! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:27
Trapped History shares the hidden stories of unsung heroes. In this episode, we explore the world of Nellie Bly, one of the greatest people we've never heard of . . .Nellie was born in the 19th century but she is a 21st…