The Lady Magazine

8 August 2014

I have written a slightly different type of letter this week. For as you may or may not know, The Lady celebrates its 130th birthday next February, a very proud moment indeed. Which has got us thinking about how to mark the occasion. Well, one rather wonderful idea was sent to me by one of our subscribers, Jill Lewis. She suggested that readers delve into their family trees and uncover those lady relatives who would have been alive when the magazine was founded in 1885 (pictured right). One of Jill’s ancestors was Rosina Twitchett (commonly called Ena), an ‘Essex girl’ who was born in 1860 and became a governess/nanny to a wealthy family in Enfield. They were good friends of another family called the Attlees, and Ena often looked after their serious, delicate and very bright little boy, Clement – who, in 1945, would become prime minister. Perhaps you have similarly colourful family yarns dating back to when The Lady was founded by Thomas Gibson Bowles all those years ago. The magazine does, after all, owe its longevity to its readers and The Lady’s story is also very much your story. So start your research (there’s a handy guide to genealogy on page 24) and send in your tales – there will be more reminders in future issues – and we’ll publish them in a very special 130th birthday feature early next year. It promises to be quite an adventure… and who knows what you might find. Very best wishes, Matt Warren, Editor