Today's on line entry for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, which I look at most days, is extremely topical.
Arabella Hunt, a musician, married a young man named James Howard in 1680. It turned out that this young man was, in fact, a woman. The marriage was annulled on the grounds that two woman could not contract a valid marriage with each other. Both partners were declared free to marry, so long as they married men.
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Ramblings of a nonagenerian (vintage 1923). Grew up in Lambeth in the 20s and 30s. Lived and worked in London during World War II. I have been attempting to do the Telegraph Cryptic Crossword since 1939! (My daughter says I *have* to write this, but I am troubled as it sounds so conceited.) I bought my first computer aged 85 and am continually frustrated by the vagaries of the technological age.
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