Equal pay fight began 300 years before Dagenham Ford strike, letters in the National Archives reveal

[#Dobe~ClasSy!☠]

the women of the Dagenham Ford factory strike have long been considered as the original pioneers of fighting for equal pay. But newly discovered letters in the National Archives reveal a series of formidable businesswomen were taking on the gender pay gap 300 years earlier.

The letters, which have been catalogued as part of a 20 year long project, are believed to be the earliest examples of British women demanding parity in the workplace.

They include those written from 1693 - 1695 by Ann Wyatt, the only woman to have owned a ship building business in the whole of British history.

Records specialist Bruno Pappalardo said the letters reveal that women challenging a gender pay gap is “not such...