East Lothian Courier | News | Women ‘inferior to men’, former Courier editor declared

Friday, 25th July, 2008

Published: Thursday, 27th March, 2008 11:45

Women ‘inferior to men’, former Courier editor declared

IN a talk on ‘The Courier Index’, Caroline Lawrie gave Haddington and District Probus Club members a fascinating trip down the rich memory lane of local history contained in the pages of East Lothian’s top local newspaper, which was founded by the Croall brothers on October 28, 1859.

Covering the period 1859 to 1914, she related numerous incidents.

These included a horse and cart falling through the old Tyne Bridge; the new Victoria Bridge opening in 1901; and accidents involving bicycles despite traffic speed limits of 10mph.

The audience listened intently as letters were read from soldiers serving in The Boer War to their loved ones at home.

Many of the authors later emigrated to South Africa.

Women’s suffrage also featured strongly, Probus Club members were told, with the old Haddington Town Council declaring its support for the concept, when both churches and the Government were opposed.

The Courier editor of the time ventured “physically, mentally and morally, women are much inferior to men”.

Mrs Lawrie was thanked for her talk based on the paper’s early editions.

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