Ghosts, fairies and a wombful of rabbits: weird and wondrous stories from early modern women

A fascinating event that explores three extraordinary stories about women from the past.

• Judith Philips lived in Hampshire in the late sixteenth century. She gained notoriety when she perpetrated an elaborate con that involved dressing up as the Fairy Queen, and riding a miser around his own yard.

• Mary Toft, from Surrey, became famous in 1726 after she claimed to have given birth to a litter of rabbits.

• Tibbie Mortimer was an eighteenth-century Aberdeenshire maidservant who devised a cunning plan to convince her master to marry her.

The event will include performances of the stories and expert historical commentary reflecting on women’s lives and beliefs about the supernatural world.

Free event but registration required.

(Age 11+ - some sexual themes)

The event is organised by:

• Francesca Farnell, History PhD student, working on a thesis entitled Women and the Supernatural: Agency, and Oppression at the Intersection of Gender and Religion in Reformation England.

• Imogen Knox, History PhD student, working on a thesis entitled Suicide, Self-Harm, and the Supernatural in Britain, 1560-1735.

• Dr Martha McGill, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the History department. Historian of supernatural beliefs, author of Ghosts in Enlightenment Scotland (2018) and co-editor of The Supernatural in Early Modern Scotland (2020).