Ex-Western Daily Press journalist Helen Reid has co-written a book to chronicle the achievements of women in Bristol over the past 300 years.

Working with Lorna Brierley, Helen has taken a look back at the great contribution Bristol women have made to education, social service, medicine, the arts and politics since the 18th century.

The result is their book Go Home And Do The Washing!

“No one has ever brought all this information together in one book before,” said Helen. “We thought it was about time that the achievements of Bristol’s women were recognised.”

Helen worked for the Daily Press for 37 years and was chief feature writer when she retired. She now writes freelance articles for the newspaper and has also written several books on local history.

While researching the book, Lorna and Helen discovered a startling number of businesses run by women in the 18th century.

Most were landladies of inns and taverns or were keeping shops and lodging houses but they also found butchers, fishmongers and a plumber.

They found that until about 1820, women made a significant contribution to the economic health of the city. Yet just 50 years later, the enterprising merchant class of women had virtually disappeared.

The merchants had become upwardly mobile and their wives and daughters were educated to become ladies and marry into the class above. But women were still able to make their mark in the arts, education, medicine and philanthropy.

“Bristol was a big centre for feminism – and in a city that was full of male chauvinism, because prominent organisations such as the Merchant Venturers were male,” said Helen.

“They also played a big role in the trade union movement.”

Go Home And Do The Washing!, published by Broadcast Books, is widely available and costs £9.95.

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