Regimental anniversary to feature story of 18th-Century rule-breaker

By Andy GiddingsBBC News, West Midlands

The story of an 18th Century woman who disguised herself as a man to join the army will be told as part of a regiment’s 350th birthday celebrations.

Hannah Snell grew up in Worcester and joined the Sixth of Foot, which later became the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

It was said she enlisted in 1745 in the hope of finding her husband, who ran away after she became pregnant.

A temporary exhibition has opened at The Fusilier Museum, Warwick, with a talk about Hannah Snell on 24 February.

Chris Kirby, the museum’s general manager, said her story was “extraordinary” and there remained “a lot of mystery about her”.

He is due to give the talk on Hannah Snell, who moved to London to live with her sister after growing up in Worcester in a middle class family.

While she was there, he said, she met a Dutch sailor called James Summs, but he disappeared to join the navy before she gave birth to a baby girl.

Determined to track him down, she signed up for the Sixth of Foot in Coventry in the hope of travelling more freely, dressing up in her brother-in-law’s clothes and taking his name, James Gray.

Warwickshire Regiment
A regimental drum from the Jacobite uprising of 1745 is on display at the museum

During her military career she served during the Jacobite uprising of 1745, and a regimental drum from that campaign is on display at the museum, along with a portrait of Hannah Snell.

Later, after falling out with her commanding officer and receiving a flogging, she deserted to join the navy and fought in India at Pondicherry.

Mr Kirby said it is not clear how she managed to keep her identity a secret, but it was later all revealed in an 18th-Century best-seller.

However he added: “We think some of the book was made up.”

Getty Images
Hannah Snell’s story was told in a best-selling book from the 18th Century

She also took her story to the West End stage, opened a London pub and married again, before ending her days in an asylum after her mental health declined.

The museum said the talk, entitled, “Hannah Snell – The Female Icon” would suit those who are “fascinated by those who broke the rules and conventions of their time”.

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Warwick/Coventry & Warwickshire/Museums/Worcester