Margaret Clive and Friends

At 7.30 pm on Thursday 17th May, in Bishop’s Castle Town Hall, YouCaxton Managing Editor Bob Fowke will be repeating his talk, ‘Margaret Clive and Friends’, interest from the public having exceeded the available space in February.

During the eighteenth century some remarkable young women crossed the ocean to India to seek their fortunes. Margaret Maskelyne who married Clive of India and was sister to Nevill Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal, was one of the cleverest – and funniest. Bob Fowke will be exploring her life and the network of her friends,  in a talk relating to his upcoming book.

‘Women were an essential element within the Company from its earliest days. The gravestones and memorials around Saint Mary’s Church in Fort St George, Chennai/Madras, bear ample testimony; around a quarter of them are of women, several dying early in childbirth. But those tragic deaths tell only part of the story. It took courage, ambition and a spirit of adventure to travel to the far side of the world in search of love and fortune and the young women who undertook that journey were exceptional people, setting out of their own accord, sometimes with only the grudging consent of parents or guardians, and confidently accepting the risks. Many of them traded independently and some were of high intellect …’