The world of the nineteenth-century woman was extremely narrow. Quiet, uncomplaining, and of delicate constitution, she spent her days at home with her family - the vagaries and demands of commerce were quite beyond her. Or so the story goes . . .

History has not remembered these nine women. They came from a variety of backgrounds but the thing that links them is that they were financially able. They survived abusive husbands, bankruptcy, impecunious relatives and heart-breaking personal tragedies to achieve surprising levels of success, and every one of them was a Staffordshire woman.