One Hundred Years…

Helen Pugh
3 min readSep 27, 2024

…of Unsung Women in Bath and North East Somerset

Time melts away. Years become seconds. Photographs and paintings speak. Buried bones whisper. Old ink gains new life. Stories are told…

One hundred years ago… in 1924, Doris Hatt arrived in Clevedon with her mother, Mary. Doris’ world began, however, in Bath with perfumes and wigs, as that was the family’s business. Bath High School and the Bath School of Art paved the way for Doris’ career as an artist. Colourful Clevedon came alive on her canvases. Doris and her partner Margery wove a life together in the Clevedon house that Doris herself designed.

Ninety-six years ago… in 1928, a voice in politics at last. Women were finally able to vote on an equal footing to men. Any woman aged 21 years or over was now eligible to put a cross in a box.

Ninety-five years ago… in 1929, Doris’ mother, Mary Hatt, passed away. Her years in Bath were also filled with perfumes and wigs as well as concerts and lessons as her fingers danced effortlessly across pianos. She was buried at St Mary’s in Bathwick.

Ninety-four years ago… in 1930, Elizabeth Cambridge Harbutt passed away. She and her husband, William, had proudly run their own school: the Paragon Art Studio in Bath. Elizabeth’s love of art flowed into her exquisite miniature paintings that were exhibited at prestigious places. She was buried in St Nicholas’ churchyard, Bathampton.

Eighty-seven years ago… in 1937, Marie Byng Johnson purchased a house in Bath that…

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Helen Pugh
Helen Pugh

Written by Helen Pugh

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