Bold in her breeches: Female soldiers who dressed as men

Julie Wheelwright uncovers the stories of women who served in the army and navy by dressing as men.

From the 18th century onwards, women such as Christian Davies, Hannah Snell, Mary Talbot and Sara Edmonds swapped their skirts for trousers to enlist in the army and navy. Over the last few decades historians have uncovered the lives of these women who not only fought alongside their male comrades but whose exploits on the battlefields have been largely forgotten.

This talk will provide details about cases of female-to-male cross-dressers, exploring how and why women signed up, what they experienced at war, and what became of them once they returned home.