The Headscarf Revolutionaries: Lillian Bilocca and the Hull Triple-Trawler Disaster

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Their other conditions involved ensuring that all trawlers in the UK were fully equipt with necessary safety equipment and that safety ships would be sent to monitor conditions and be a ship's first port of call should one ever be in trouble. Lillian lost her job, and part of the community she had fought to help turned on her. An appearance on the Eamonn Andrews’ Show saw her star fall with stark rapidity. The women met with the ministers, after which they learned that Harry Eddom had been found alive. His survival became worldwide news.

Three plaques will be unveiled on Friday, August 18. The three Headscarf Revolutionists honoured will be Yvonne Blenkinsop, Mary Denness and Christine Jensen MBE for their part in improving the safety standards at sea in the 1960s, which has saved thousands of lives. They were led by Lil. The women had led one of the biggest and most successful civil disobedience campaigns of the 20th century. But the family were called to the rest home in the early hours of Sunday, April 24 where Blenkinsop had passed away. She combined a career as a singer alongside being a married mother of four. She toured the country as Yvonne — the golden girl with the golden voice. We're a reader-owned co-operative, which means you can become part of the paper too by buying shares in the People’s Press Printing Society.When Mary Denness was called up to the stage, there was booing. Lillian shouted: “Are you booing her because she’s a skipper’s wife? Well, I don’t remember any skippers coming home!” The suitably chastened crowd went on to vote them all in as the Hessle Road Women’s Committee. In the highly charged atmosphere, the women marched on the owners’ offices, but were fobbed off. Days later, trade unionists and Labour politicians arranged for the women to meet with ministers. The then Labour prime minister Harold Wilson was in the US but was kept updated with progress of the talks.

The women met with the ministers after which they learned that Eddom had been found alive. His survival became worldwide news. Recently, local heritage campaigner Ian Cuthbert’s Headscarf Pride group had lobbied to get Blenkinsop recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. He is also campaigning for a statue to be built to the women. a b c d e f Willetts, Chloe (19 August 2015). "Quest for change penned in memoir – Kapiti News – Kapiti News News". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 1 November 2017.Not only did she play a key role in one of the most successful civil disobedience campaigns of the 20th century but she also spent her life ensuring that the legacy of that campaign would not be forgotten. a b c d e f Lavery, Brian W. (23 September 2004). "Bilocca , Lillian [Lil] (1929–1988)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (onlineed.). Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/72725. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) The opening of 1968 was such a time. The Prague Spring coincided with the Civil Rights movement in the US, the anti-Vietnam War riot in Grosvenor Square, the March events in Poland, the occupation at Nanterre, and eventually the May Days in Paris. And to this list we can add the uprising of the Headscarf Revolutionaries, which has now been brilliantly documented in a new book by Brian W. Lavery. Bilocca has been described as a national figure and a local folk hero. [2] She was commemorated by a Hull City Council plaque in Hessle Road in 1990 that reads "In recognition of the contributions to the fishing industry by the women of Hessle Road, led by Lillian Bilocca, who successfully campaigned for better safety measures following the loss of three Hull trawlers in 1968"; another plaque in her honour is at the Hull Maritime Museum. [13] A mural on Hull's Anlaby Road painted by Mark Ervine and Kev Largey depicts Bilocca and her connections with the "headscarf revolutionaries" and the triple trawler tragedy. [11]

Lillian Bilocca had three sisters. [2] [3] Her father, husband and son all worked at sea on the Hull fishing trawlers and Bilocca worked at an on-shore fish factory, filleting the catch. [3] [4] [5] She became known as "Big Lil". [6] Headscarf Revolutionaries trawler safety campaign [ edit ] I am going over. We are laying over. Help us, Len. I am going over. Give my love and the crew’s love to the wives and families…” News People of Hull celebrate the Headscarf Revolutionaries in inspirational march through the city Blenkinsop and three co-campaigners, led by Bilocca, rose to fame after the Triple Trawler Disaster of 1968 in which three trawlers, from the city’s Hessle Road fishing community, sank in as many weeks in atrocious North Atlantic seas. a b "Actress honours safety fighter Big Lil". BBC News. 31 August 2017 . Retrieved 31 October 2017.

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Ten seconds after this radio message in the early hours of 4 February, 1968, the Ross Cleveland disappeared. For me, their true legacy is the innumerable people here today who might not have been but for their campaign. Their story, like their legacy, now belongs to the world. Lillian Bilocca never worked in the fishing industry again. Bosses thought her a dangerous nuisance, and some felt that she had shown up the community. It was two years before she found other work.

Blenkinsop’s private legacy is four children, 10 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. Her beloved husband John predeceased her in 2004. The opening of 1968 was such a time. The Prague Spring coincided with the Civil Rights movement in the US, the anti-Vietnam War riot in Grosvenor Square, the March events in Poland, the occupation at Nanterre, and eventually the May Days in Paris. And to this list we can add the uprising of the Headscarf Revolutionaries, which has now been brilliantly documented in a new book by Brian Lavery.Georgia Lucas, president of the University of Hull’s Feminist Society said: “I came along because I think it’s very important to celebrate women and celebrate how far we’ve come. We’ve come a long way but we’ve still got a long way to go." In the face of ecological disaster there are lessons we should all take from them. People across the world are losing their lives and homes to the impending disaster. Huge wildfires affect diverse eco-systems and flooding threatens a huge portion of the world’s population.