Historian Arthur R. Nicholls examines the lives of more Kendal 'Worthies'.

MEN were naturally more prominent in Kendal's life in earlier days but there were women too, who are worthy of note.

The most obvious is, of course, Katherine Parr. Coming from a family of moneyed gentry, she began life with advantages over lesser mortals, but who would have thought that she would become a Queen of England, deal successfully with the difficulties of looking after Henry VIII and even succeeding him despite all odds?

Her father was an important officer in the King's Court and spent his time in London. Although he owned Kendal Castle she was not born there, so perhaps she cannot claim to have been a true Kendalian.

Katherine was a precocious child. She could read and write at the age of four and by the time she was 12 had mastered French, Latin and Greek.

However, life was not all academic study or feminine activities for her; she also enjoyed riding in the countryside.

She was married no less than four times, first at the age of 16, and died in childbirth, the wife of Sir Thomas Seymour.

Religion was very important to her and Kendal is privileged to own a little book of prayers that she wrote with her own hand. She is certainly worthy of remembrance.

Mary Wakefield was a Kendalian woman who enjoyed many social advantages.

She was born into one of the great families of Kendal. Her great-grandfather, John, founded one of the two first banks in the town in 1788 in Bank House (which later became Stricklandgate House), where Mary was born.

The family succeeded to a house in Sedgwick where she grew up in a happy country childhood.

From an early age she enjoyed singing and listening to songs. Music became her life and she aimed to make it her profession but in those days the woman's place was deemed to be in the home as a dutiful wife and mother. Women did not 'work' outside the home.

Despite this, she became a very fine singer and sang in concerts all over Europe. She began to lecture on music and encouraged ordinary people in the towns and villages to form choirs and to enjoy music.

This work culminated in the Wakefield Festival, which has prospered under various titles until this very day. Mary gave so much to Kendal and is truly worthy of note.

Miss Dorothy Dowker, living in Kendal, felt concern for the plight of older spinsters.

When she died she left, in 1831, a legacy of £3,742, a sizeable sum in those days, to found a hospital to accommodate 'six good and chaste females, who had reached the age of fifty without marrying'.

George Webster designed and built the Old Maids Hospital or almshouse in Highgate, which was demolished in 1963 for forming Dowkers Lane.

Dorothy is little known apart from her name but she is yet another Kendalian of worth.

These are but two of those in Kendal who deserve the description of 'worthy' - worthy of note. The new book by Trevor Hughes and Arthur Nicholls entitled 'Kendal Worthies' gives much more fascinating detail on their lives and the lives of others equally worthy.

The book can be bought from The Westmorland Gazette reception at Wainwright's Yard, Kendal, for £14.99.