The women who married officers in the Royal Navy spent much of their lives alone but married. These conditions meant that they often not only handled work which most married women husbands performed, but also supported their husbands’ professions acting as aides-de-camp. This entailed collecting intelligence on Admiralty policies, foreign events, Parliamentary actions, and social developments. They created emotional intimacy through their letters as their marriages were often more imagined than lived. Nineteenth-century wives of naval officers are a useful category to study as they enhance our understanding of naval history, alter our perceptions of married women’s labour in the British Empire, challenge our beliefs about public and private spheres, and enrich the historiography of gender.
Lisa Wojahn, a PhD student at the University of Exeter, is a social historian of nineteenth-century Britain focusing on the maritime world. Her current research documents the unusual lives of women who married officers of the Royal Navy. It incorporates elements from social, maritime, and gender history. She earned two graduate degrees from Rice University, a Master of Liberal Arts with a project titled Crimea through Russian Eyes: Politics, History, and Memory and a Diploma of Liberal Arts with a thesis, Royal Navy Officers’ Wives Georgian to Victorian: “I must fain look to myself.” In her free time, she loves to spend time with her family, read, and travel.
Cost: £25
Doors 6pm / Talk 6.30pm / Supper 7.30pm
Accessibility Statement: The Institution is committed to improving its accessibility, and we welcome all visitors to our public events. However, we are transparent about the access limitations that the size, location, and historic nature of the building can occasion, and readily acknowledge that we are in a period of transition.
The main entrance to the DEI, (facing the Cathedral), has double doors, and is accessible for most wheelchairs. From this entrance there is level access to the foyer, and to the inner and outer libraries. We apologise for the current lack of lift access to the South Range rooms on the second floor.
As we are a small building, parking is limited, but a space can be pre-booked by contacting the office by phone: 01392 274727, or by email: office@devonandexeterinstitution.org. Priority will be given to blue badge holders. The side door into the inner library should be accessible for most wheelchair users reaching the DEI from the driveway, or the front entrance can be reached through the side door at the end of the driveway. Please do contact us if you have any further questions about your route into the DEI.
There are toilets on site, though the nearest fully accessible Changing Places toilet can be found in the Princesshay Shopping Centre, at the back of Nationwide.
The library is usually a quiet space, though can be louder during events. A timetable for events can be found on the website. If you require a quieter space, please ask a member of staff.
If sounded, the fire alarm makes a repeated sound of two tones, and flashing lights will go off in the reading room and the toilets. On an ordinary day, ringing phones and door buzzers might also be heard.
Lighting is soft throughout the building, and may be low in certain areas. Assistance dogs are welcome, and staff will be happy to provide water for your dog.