When suffragette Emily Wilding Davison hid overnight in the Houses of Parliament in 1911 to have her name recorded in the census there, she may not have known that there were sixty-seven other women also resident in Parliament that night: housekeepers, kitchen maids, and wives and daughters living in households. This book is their story.

Women have touched just about every aspect of life in Parliament. From ‘Jane’, dispenser of beer, pies and chops in Bellamy’s legendary refreshment rooms; to May Ashworth, Official Typist to Parliament for thirty years through marriage, war and divorce; and Jean Winder, the first female Hansard reporter, who fought for years for equal pay; the lives of these women have been largely unacknowledged – until now.

Drawing on new research from the Parliamentary Archives, government records and family history sources, historians and parliamentary insiders Mari Takayanagi and Elizabeth Hallam Smith bring these unsung heroes to life. They chart the changing context for working women within and beyond the Palace of Westminster, uncovering women left out of the history books – including Mary Jane Anderson, a previously unknown suffragette.

‘An excellent book. It was absolutely fascinating, and I learnt so much about the history of the Palace of Westminster and the unsung women who have helped to shape it.'

‘Compelling … An important contribution to social history. The lives of cleaners, “Girl Messengers” and typists leap from the page of this brilliantly written and researched book.’

'An illuminating slice of history and a rattling good read.'

Dr MARI TAKAYANAGI is a Senior Archivist at the Parliamentary Archives and has worked there since 2000. She is also a historian, currently researching Parliament, women and politics c. 1918-1945 with a view to celebrating the centenary of Equal Franchise in 2028. Dr ELIZABETH HALLAM SMITH was the first female Librarian at the House of Lords and before that was the Director of Public Services at The National Archives, Kew. Now attached to Parliament's Architecture and Conservation team, she is researching the history of the Palace of Westminster and the people who worked there across the centuries.