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Girton College Fire Brigade, 1901 (image via Science Museum) Who were our five main characters in real life? Did Girton College students really create their own Fire Brigade? Which discoveries from our research have made it into the show? What shapes our approach to writing a musical based on real people and events from history?
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Girton College Fire Brigade, 1880. Hertha is on the left, holding a bucket. (image via Physics World) Towards the end of the October term of 1878, two Girton students watched a haystack burn to the ground in a nearby field. Together, they wondered what terrible price would be paid by the College and its students
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One of the central driving forces behind our version of the show’s main character, Hertha, is her powerful sense of justice. She has to do the right thing, whatever the cost. First she feels compelled to form a Fire Brigade, then later in the show she starts a campaign for women at Cambridge to be
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Fighting fires, smashing the patriarchy and studying hard for a degree they won’t even earn. Our intrepid band of firefighters were a busy gang. But amongst all their studies and drills, they also found time for fun – and one of the many activities they enjoyed was singing. Many of the fire brigade were members
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Our characters decide to start their own fire brigade – but, how do you do that? Nowadays, the answer would be simple (youtube), but in the late 19th century information was harder to come by. The real Hertha Ayrton solved this problem by going to an expert – Captain Eyre Massey Shaw. Born in Cork,
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Earlier this year I was asked to write an article for The Linnean Society’s membership magazine, after spending time in their fascinating archives researching one of our main characters Ethel Sargant. Out of all the characters in our show, Ethel is the one that has changed the most since we started writing The Cambridge First
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The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade 