Hypatia Trust logo

Azook Community Interest Company is pleased to announce a partnership with the Hypatia Trust. The project will create a reading room for the Elizabeth Treffry Collection, an important library of books and archive material by and related to, the women of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Housed in a room of its own at Azook CIC’s offices at Krowji, Redruth, members of the public will be able to consult the Elizabeth Treffry Collection by appointment. Azook’s team of talented volunteers will complete the catalogue which will be made available online.

In Cornwall, as true all over the world, the worthwhile achievements of women are often overlooked and even suppressed in oral and written histories.  This special collection will play an essential part in re-balancing narratives in Cornish and Scillonian history and literature by sharing the triumphs, stories and arts by women who have lived and worked in the county.

The reading room includes works by internationally acclaimed authors Daphne du Maurier, Helen Dunmore and Virginia Woolf and hundreds of the lesser known who should be found again.  It also highlights histories of great Cornish campaigning women such as Emily Hobhouse, Dora Russell, Judith Cook and many more.  The Hypatia Trust hopes that access to this important collection will provide young women and girls with inspiring role models whose lives were influenced by the place of Cornwall.

Launch

To coincide with International Women’s Day, the Elizabeth Treffry Reading Room will be officially opened today, Tuesday 8th March 2016, at 2pm.

The Hypatia Trust

The Hypatia Trust is a registered educational charity in the UK. They support and promote women’s achievements though research and documentation, exhibition, publication and by providing training and educational activities.

The Hypatia Trust was formed in 1996 by Dr Melissa Hardie-Budden to collect and make available, published and personal documentation about the achievements of women in every aspect of their lives.  Central to activities has been the care, development and re-distribution of the Hypatia Collection, a unique set of sub-collections of books, artefacts and archives by and about women.

Elizabeth Treffry

Who was Elizabeth Treffry?

Dame Elizabeth Treffry according to medieval legend, was an aristocrat based at Place House in Fowey and renowned for heroically and successfully rallying troops and defending the town during the French raid of 1457.  Her strategy was allegedly to pour molten lead over the raiders.

Using the Reading Room

The Elizabeth Treffry Reading Room is available to visit by appointment.  The catalogue will be an ongoing process but you are welcome to browse through and use the collection whilst this happens. Just contact Azook to make a booking.