Report unveils women's war drinking

30 September 2013

Women's drinking was so bad during the First World War critics likened them to prostitutes, researchers have found.

While the men were away dying in their thousands, many women hit the alehouse to deal with the agony of the age.

Now, for the first time, a picture has emerged of the enthusiasm with which the ladies put away the alcohol - and the chauvinistic attitude which aimed to punish and prevent them.

Through old newspapers available to search online at family history website Genes Reunited, the true extent of the indignation at the sight of women filling the alehouses across the country has been discovered.

In 1915, the Manchester Evening News reported that a member of the county magistrates, Mr Theophilus Simpson, was shocked to count "26 women enter a licensed house in ten minutes, with 16 coming out who he had not seen enter."

He likened this type of behaviour to that of a prostitute.

Mr Simpson added: "Some people said women have a right to spend their money as they liked; they might as well say that they had a right to sell themselves if they like."

In 1916 the matter was debated at the Bootle Licensing Magistrates and the Liverpool Echo reported that a Captain Oversby said: "In the opinion of the committee, the great increase in the number of women visiting public-houses during the past year has demanded drastic treatment."

A number of different measures were discussed by the Licensing Magistrates to stop women visiting the public houses, including a refurbishment of all public houses.

"All licensed houses to be provided with clear plate-glass windows; partitions, snugs and other obstacles likely to facilitate secret drinking, be done away with," it added.

Having control of the finances seems to have enabled the women to socialise more.

In 1914 the Aberdeen Journal reported: "Having more money in their hands than usual, there were only too many ready to help them to spend it in the wrong way."

Rhoda Breakell, head of Genes Reunited, said: '' Despite the negative press, women continued to enjoy themselves in the pubs.

"Looking through the records on Genes Reunited can provide a great insight into social history, shedding light on how much things have changed for all of us in a comparatively short space of time."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in