During the early months of 1968 three trawler boats sunk out from the fishing port of Hull, which claimed the lives of 58 crew members, with only one survivor. A series of events which shocked the nation and put the local women into action to campaign for better working conditions at sea
Newspaper article from the Hull Trawler Tragedy, The Hull Daily Mail
Photo by Alec Gill Hull had a unique fishing culture in what had become the greatest deep sea fishery in the world – however dangerous working practises in the race to fish had evolved over the century
The triple trawler tragedy flung the fishing industry into the public eye, leading to an investigation into the conditions of which fishermen were working
Led by Lillian Bilocca, thousands of people signed the petition for better working conditions at sea.
The group name was coined by the national newspapers as such due to the popular head wear of working class women at the time
"Big Lil" at the head of a demonstration after the disaster, Hull Daily Mail