Library Blogs

Trial access to the British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries has been made available until 14th May 2021.

This collection includes the immediate experiences of approximately 500 women, as revealed in over 100,000 pages of diaries and letters. Particular care has been taken to index this material so that it can be searched more thoroughly than ever before. The collection now includes primary materials spanning more than 300 years. Each source has been carefully chosen using leading bibliographies. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.

Please tell us what you think about these archives by completing the trial feedback form here.

Featured content includes:

Browse a collection of letters from Mary, Queen of Scots during her imprisonment in England until her execution.  Correspondence include letters to King Philip II, Constable de Montmorency, Archbishop of Glasgow, Queen Elizabeth, Catherine de Medicis, Queen of France, and her last letter and will written the evening before her execution.

Read letters and diaries from women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries documenting their experiences nursing in a variety of medical settings.

Many women throughout history have survived numerous wars and conflicts. Read through various dairies written by women who lived through the French Revolution, Crimean War, and the Great Wars of the 20th century, including the diary of Anne Jane Walker Shepperd, a 26-year-old mother of three, describing daily life in London during the Blitz.

Browse letters and diaries from women as they document their travels throughout the world from fashion to food to new landmarks discovered. Countries visited and explored include: Italy, Norway, Russia, Egypt, Syria, South Africa, India, and New Zealand.