Mary Lily Walker: The Book is now Available!

Exciting news this week as Eddie Small's biography of Mary Lily Walker has been launched. We received the first pressings earlier last Friday - below are some pictures of author Eddie Small, publisher Anna Day and Suzanne Zeedyk with the first copies.

Eddie (author),  Anna Day (publisher) & Suzanne, clearly sharing a good joke

Suzanne, Eddie and all the lovely boxes of books!

Entitled Mary Lily Walker: Forgotten Visionary of Dundee, here's a summary of the book:

 This is a story about a remarkable woman from a city renowned for its strong women; a woman who not only brought national attention to the desperate plight of women and children in late-Victorian Dundee, but who introduced social and healthcare reform to a city she held dear. A true original, this book tells her story for the first time - her early life, her inspirations and the friendships and relationships which make her a true treasured daughter of Dundee.This is the story of a legacy which still survives one hundred years after her untimely death. This is the story that has been too long in the telling.

Copies of the book are available from:

-Dundee University Press HERE
-Amazon.co.uk HERE
- Waterstones Dundee, who set up a beautiful display for us (see below)
- All attendees at our conference on the 29th June will receive a free copy (we've still got a few seats left, it's not too late to register!).

The lovely book display in Waterstones Dundee.

An Exhibition, Rotary Club Presentation and a Royal Visit!

Exhibition

We're very excited to share with you all the news that the University of Dundee will be hosting an exhibition on Mary Lily Walker from the 21st of June all the way through to the 12th of August.

Situated in the Tower Building foyer (the tall building situated just off of the Nethergate/Perth Rd.), it'll showcase letters, documents, pictures and more about the life and times of Miss Walker. Included will be items from her time at the University, when it had just opened it's doors as the University College Dundee - including lab specimens from her work alongside Professor Wentworth D'arcy Thompson.

Entrance to the exhibition is free, and it is disabled accessible from the rear of the building.


Rotary Club Presentation

Suzanne had the pleasure this week of speaking to the Claverhouse Rotary Club about our Mary Lily Walker events.  

This was a particular pleasure because it let her highlight one of many minor characters in Mary Lily's story. Hector Turnbull owned the Claverhouse Bleachfields, situated near the Dighty Burn in Dundee. Hector Turnbull was  Mary Lily's uncle, and was a witness at the wedding of her father and mother.  Our historical research has revealed that, when her father died in 1876, Hector was most unhappy about a prenuptial agreement that they had signed, and he refused to assist in legal proceedings concerning her father's estate. We haven't yet uncovered why he was unhappy! 

You can read much more about the history we've uncovered in Eddie Small's forthcoming biography.

This little story gives a sense of the many interwoven themes in our activities — especially when one of the Rotary members commented afterward that his house overlooks the site of the Bleachfields.

Here's a few photos of Suzanne giving that talk.

Many thanks to the Rotary members who wrote afterward to say how interesting and engaging they found the presentation to be.

Royal Visit

In other exciting news, Prince Charles came to Dundee last week and found the time to visit the Grey Lodge Settlement, which Mary Lily Walker left in her will to the people of Dundee.

Interestingly, it marks the second time that a Prince of Wales has visited the settlement. During his time there, Charles was entertained with traditional dancing and got to meet many of the volunteers who help keep Grey Lodge Settlement running today, 100 years after it's inception.

A full range of photos of the visit featured in local newspaper The Courier can be found at our Facebook page HERE

Conference Update, Mary in The News and Walking Tours

It's been a busy week for our research team, who're busy making preparations for our upcoming events. We've got much to share with you, here's some of the recent news:


Conference NewsIt's two weeks today until our conference Mary Lily Walker’s Footsteps: 100 years of Scotland’s Early Years Movement gets underway at the University of Dundee. Places are still available via Eventbrite (link below) at a price of £50 for students and £80 for other delegates.

The event goes on throughout the day from 9am to 4pm, with welcome coffee, mid-morning tea and lunch for all delegates. There'll be a variety of speakers from all across Scotland and beyond, including representatives from the Scottish Parliament, University of Dundee and Glasgow's Violence Reduction Unit. 

We're also pleased to announce that there will be a free copy of local author Eddie Small's new book Mary Lily Walker: Forgotten Visionary of Dundee available for all conference delegates.

Tickets can be booked via the below link:

*BOOK TICKETS*

Mary in The News

It's been a busy time for Mary Lily Walker recently, and the local newspapers have been kind enough to feature her not once, but twice. On Tuesday last week, The Courier in Dundee talked about the parallels between the current debate on sleeping alongside one's baby with the issues that Mary Lily Walker discussed back in her day over 100 years ago.

Before this, the Courier featured an article about the delightful Edwardian banquet we held in St Paul's schoolrooms earlier this month.

You can read the articles over at our Facebook page, Here and Here.

Great Walking Tours Response

A big thanks to all who attended our walking tours on Wednesday 12th of this month. We've had some excellent feedback from our walkees, and we're looking forward to showing more of you the hidden sites of early 20th century Dundee in the coming weeks. There's more tours planned for the 28th June, and some on today (15th June) if you're quick enough to grab yourself a place.

As before, tours are free of charge, take place in both morning (11am-12pm) and evening (2-3pm & 4-5pm). Each of the tours takes in a different part of Dundee, taking in different sites around the University of Dundee, City Centre and West End of Dundee respectively. Places are limited, so be sure to book your place by e-mailing karen@suzannezeedyk.com. We hope to see you there - here's some of the lovely things that those who joined us on the tours have said:

"I am sure that I never heard her name before, given all the things she did why haven't we ever heard her name before?

"She must have been a most remarkable woman"

"This has been most interesting and we look forward to reading more about Mary Lily"

'Mary Lily: The Movie', walking tours & a book launch!

It's winding up to be a busy month, and we've got lots of Mary Lily Walker news to share with you as the celebration events at the end of the month grow ever closer. Here's a roundup:

Mary Lily Walker: The Movie!

If you unfortunately couldn't make it to our Edwardian charity banquet at the start of the month, you can now be there in spirit! Wonderful local film-makers Dragonreel Films were in attendance, and they've produced a short film in which they met the chefs and some of the characters in attendance. They even managed to get a brief interview with Mary Lily Walker herself! You can watch the film below:

Photos from the evening are also up on our Facebook page, which has recently been relocated to a new address at: www.facebook.com/marylilywalker. A few pictures are featured below to give you a taste of what was an excellent night.

The full set can be found HERE - have a look and enjoy a flavour of the times.

Walking Tours

As mentioned last week, following the success of the previous walking tours, we've got some more planned. Full details are available on the poster to the right., with the next tours scheduled for this Saturday in both morning (11am-12pm) and afternoon (2-3pm). Places are limited, so if you're interested in joining us, be sure to e-mail karen@suzannezeedyk.com or call on 0845 075 3694 to book your space!

Book Launch

We're very excited to be able to announce the launch of a book on Mary Lily Walker, penned by local author Eddie Small. Entitled Mary Lily Walker: Forgotten Visionary of Dundee, it's being released on the 23rd June and is full of images from the time alongside the story of Mary Lily Walker's life and legacy. Here's a description from the Dundee University Press website:

This is a story about a remarkable woman from a city renowned for its strong women; a woman who not only brought national attention to the desperate plight of women and children in late-Victorian Dundee, but who introduced social and healthcare reform to a city she held dear. A true original, this book tells her story for the first time - her early life, her inspirations and the friendships and relationships which make her a true treasured daughter of Dundee.This is the story of a legacy which still survives one hundred years after her untimely death. This is the story that has been too long in the telling.

Copies can be pre-ordered from the above link, by phoning 0845 075 3694 or by e-mailing karen@suzannezeedyk.com. A free copy will be available for all those registered for the Mary Lily Walker Conference on the 29th June.

Walking Tours: June

Following the success of our previous walking tours of Dundee, we've arranged some more to co-incide with the events taking place this month to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mary Lily Walker's death. The walks are being held in association with the Dundee Westfest - more information can be found on their website:  http://www.gomni1.webspace.virginmedia.com/westfest/

The tours will be taking in various historical sites related to the life and times of Mary Lily Walker around Dundee, and will be led by members of our research team. Places are limited, in order to book, e-mail  karen@suzannezeedyk.com.

Dates for the tours are Wednesday 12th and Saturday 15th June, with one in the morning between 11AM and 12PM, and one in the afternoon between 2 and 3PM. 

The morning tours will be led by Dr David Dobson, meeting at The Howff, Barack St entrance. Afternoon tours will be led by Pete Kinnear and will meet at the DCA.

Conference Details

It's not long now until our conference, being held at The University of Dundee on the subject of Scotland's Early Years movement over the last 100 years. Tickets are still available, via the link below.

Edwardian Banquet - June 1st

JOIN US FOR AN (ALMOST) AUTHENTIC EDWARDIAN BANQUET — IN (ALMOST) AUTHENTIC COSTUME!

The team at Heaven's Kitchen are hosting an Edwardian Banquet, on Saturday 1 June 2013 — as part of the Mary Lily Walker commemorative events.  

This amazing charity team has planned an (almost) authentic 6-course Edwardian meal.   It starts with Arbroath Smoked Haddock Souffle, moves on to Carrot & Star Anise Soup, and (almost) ends with Carse of Gowrie Raspberry and Cranachan Dessert.  

The meal takes place in the classroom of St Paul's School — one of the schools that featured in Mary Lily Walker's ground-breaking 1905 report.  The classroom has only recently been cleared, and so will rarely have been seen by the public.  But we really will be eating in the very room in which Victorian children walked barefoot across a wooden floor — and whose lives Mary Lily Walker sought to change with her dedicated work.

The Heaven's Kitchen team is made up of volunteer chefs and waiting staff, all of superb and practised skills — who are donating their time and effort to raise money for St Paul's Cathedral.  Mary Lily Walker herself attended St Paul's Cathedral and was buried from there on 5 July 1913.   So it is fitting that we join her spirit there on 1st June, to kick off what is now a month of celebrations to mark her contributions to the city of Dundee and especially to the lives of Dundee children and women.

For more on Mary Lily Walker, her life and her legacy, check out the rest of our blog here at www.marylilywalker.co.uk. There are still tickets available for many of the events taking place in June, so do get in touch if any other events interest you.

We've attached a flyer for the Banquet, so that you know how to book (at £35 per ticket).   Don't forget to read the bit about the 'Required Dress Code'.  :)   It should be a fabulously fun evening.

We look forward to seeing many of you on the 1st of June — as long as tickets last!  

PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL ON TO ANY LAIRDS, LADIES, RASCALS OR SCOUNDRELS WHOM YOU THINK MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING.