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.) Public outcry of the situation died down and life went on. The city of Kingston-Upon-Hull marched on. It relied on the fishing industry at sea and on-shore to live. The tragedy lived on in the family’s heads as their loved ones sailed off once more. Like most in the Hull fishing community she hailed from the tight-knit community of Hessle Road. Surrounded by heartache and loss, she decided enough was enough. Organising meetings with trawlermen, their families and local politicians and unions – she started a movement. The Headscarf Revolutionaries is an enthralling read, a fitting tribute to an extraordinary woman, and an important addition to working class history.

Lavery largely resists analysis, describing events with impassioned objectivity. The book is meticulously researched and his admiration for Lil and the campaign is most revealed by his commitment to understanding the community he’s writing about and describing events as fully and accurately as he can. He saves his analysis for the afterword: Lillian Marshall was born in 7 Welton Terrace, Wassand Street, Hessle Road, Hull [1] on 26 May 1929 to Ernest Marshall, trawlerman and former Royal Navy engineer, and his wife, Harriet, née Chapman. She left the Daltry Street Junior School, Hull at the age of 14 and worked as a cod skinner. She married Carmelo [Charlie] Bilocca (1902–1981), a Maltese sailor who worked with the Hull-based Ellerman-Wilson Line, and later as a trawlerman. [1] They had two children – Ernest (b. 1946) and Virginia (b. 1950). The family lived in a terraced house in Coltman Street, Hull. Earlier this month, the special memorial garden to honour those lost at sea found its permanent home on St Andrew's Quay. 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. a b c d e f g h i Youngs, Ian (26 October 2017). "Why Hull fishwife is Maxine Peake's hero". BBC News . Retrieved 31 October 2017.Read next: How Hull Fishing Heritage Centre is helping ex-trawlermen as it moves to new home and plans huge four-day commemoration If I don't get satisfaction I'll be at that Wilson's house, private house, until I do get satisfaction in some shape or form. 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. a b "The Headscarf Revolutionaries and Lilian BIlocca". Barbican Press. 1 March 2015 . Retrieved 31 October 2017. Lily’s Headscarf Revolution may have been a naïve one. But it was a powerful action from the heart that caught the imagination of the world and shamed an industry and a government into action.

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. a b c d e f "Hull fishermen's safety campaigner Mary Denness dies". ITV News. 5 March 2017 . Retrieved 31 October 2017. The 13-mile walk saw the fundraisers start in Goxhill on the south bank, before crossing over the bridge and making their way to Hessle Road. Along the way, they stopped at each of the Headscarf Revolutionaries' houses as a show of respect, before finishing their walk at the Hull Fishing Heritage Centre on Boulevard. There are times when history seems to erupt in chorus. Sometimes the cause of synchronicity is obvious, as in the World War that preceded uprisings and revolutions from Clydeside to Moscow, or the economic collapse that by 2011 had sparked revolts as diverse as the English riots and the Arab Spring. At other times, the connections are harder to explain: why was 1848 the year that modernity clashed with feudalism across much of Europe and Latin America? Why did 1649 witness the Ormee of Bordeaux and The Diggers’ colonies in England? Sometimes, it seems, there is simply something in the air. The revolutionaries of the Hessle Road Women’s Committee showed the power of grassroots campaigns. The women had no political experience, all being regular people from a regular city. They affected change at the highest level of government in a matter of weeks.The charity walk aimed to raise awareness of the accomplishments of Lillian Bilocca, Yvonne Blenkinsop, Christine Jensen and Mary Denness, with the ultimate goal being to erect a permanent statue in their honour. These revolutionaries took action after the Triple Trawler Tragedy of 1968 which cost the lives of 58 men, campaigning for tougher laws and ultimately changing the fishing industry for the better. One ordinary fisheries worker decided to take things into her own hands. Losing a son herself in the tragedy she saw a need for change.

a b "Actress honours safety fighter Big Lil". BBC News. 31 August 2017 . Retrieved 31 October 2017. The BBC broadcast a documentary entitled "Hull's Headscarf Heroes" in February 2018, to mark fifty years since the loss of the three trawlers. [14] 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. Analysing the events Lavery describes, one might reach two reasonable but contradictory conclusions. Pessimistically, one might note – as John Prescott accepted once in power – that capitalism can’t be reformed. More optimistically, one might add that direct action gets the goods – in a few weeks a few women won changes that for their sector were at least as significant as the concessions earned a few months later by millions of French workers who rendered the state helpless and momentarily forced the government to abdicate. Dozens of locals donned their fanciest headscarves in Queen Victoria Square to raise awareness and celebrate the achievements of the four revolutionaries, Lillian Bilocca, Yvonne Blenkinsop, Christine Jensen, and Mary Denness.The heroic story of these women in the face of tragedy highlights the fact that change comes from the populace. This was the first of three tragedies to strike the Hull fishing industry in the coming weeks. The Kingston Peridot and the Ross Cleveland would soon follow in the disastrous footsteps of the previous tragedy. 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 ] Indeed, while Prescott, who had some involvement with the campaign as a young trade unionist, may be keen to celebrate what the women achieved, their rebellion had more in common with Danbert from Chumbawamba dowsing Prescott with water at the Brit Awards than it did with facilitating the banking crisis or invading Iraq. A colourful march through Hull city centre was done in honour of the Headscarf Revolutionaries today.