Tag Archives: Lillian Bilocca
Hull tower blocks named in honour of trawler campaigner women
Three tower blocks in Hull have been renamed in honour of women who fought for new safety laws after a slew of fishing tragedies in the 1960s. Dubbed the Headscarf Revolutionaries, Yvonne Blenkinsop, Lillian Bilocca, Christine Jensen and Mary Denness changed the fishing industry for good. They took action after a triple trawler tragedy in 1968 which saw the loss of three Hull trawlers and 58 crew. Name plaques on the Porter Street flats were unveiled on Friday. The women’s campaign started when 58 fishermen lost their lives in three separate trawler sinkings in the space of less than a month in 1968. The trawlers – St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland – all sank in quick succession, and only one man survived. Photos, >click to read< 08:50
Hull headscarf parade to raise money for trawler statue
A parade through Hull will raise funds to build a statue honouring four women who campaigned for trawler safety measures in the 1960s. The Headscarf Revolutionaries took on the fishing industry and the government after three boats sank in 1968 with the loss of 58 crew. Now campaigners are aiming to raise £100,000 for a memorial to them. The four women – Lillian Bilocca, Yvonne Blenkinsop, Mary Denness and Christine Jensen – fought for tougher safety laws. The trawlers – St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland – all sank within two weeks of each other off the Icelandic coast, with only one survivor. >click to read< 08;38
Yvonne Blenkinsop, Hull Headscarf Revolutionary, dies aged 83
Yvonne Blenkinsop, the last remaining member of Hull’s famed Headscarf Revolutionaries, has died at the age of 83. Yvonne was a true hero of the city who, along with Lillian Bilocca, Mary Denness and Christine Smallbone, campaigned for safety improvements on trawlers sailing from Hull following the Triple Trawler Tragedy of 1968. She died on Sunday. In 1968, the St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland trawlers all sank within a few weeks of each other, with the loss of 58 crew members in total. Not only did this cause grief among Hull’s fishing community, but a sense of anger and injustice. >click to read< 07:09
Lillian Bilocca: Plaque for woman who revolutionised safety at sea
A plaque has been unveiled for a woman who helped revolutionise safety at sea and is credited with saving many lives. The memorial has been placed on the wall at the former home of Lillian Bilocca, in Coltman Street, Hull. Led by Big Lil, as she was known, a group of four redoubtable women pressed for law changes after a 1968 trawler disaster. The disaster in 1968 saw 58 men perish after three Hull vessels were lost. In the face of strong opposition Bilocca, Christine Jensen, Mary Denness and Yvonne Blenkinsop, the four women later dubbed the “Headscarf Revolutionaries”, are estimated to have saved thousands of lives through their safety campaign. >click to read< 22:04
Headscarf Revolutionaries: ‘Big Lil’ saved my life and that’s why she should be named the Greatest Hullensian of All Time
Alongside Christine Jensen, Mary Denness and Yvonne Blenkinsop, ‘Big Lil’ formed the Hessle Road Women’s Committee as the dire consequences of the Triple Trawler Tragedy in 1968 came into full focus. The group, known as the Headscarf Revolutionaries, has become immortalised in books and murals locally, but consensus remains that their work is not celebrated enough outside of Hull. Bilocca, a fish wife, led the group after becoming enraged by the loss of 58 men in the winter of 1968 when the St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland all sunk in a matter of weeks. >click to read< 10:06
Triple trawler tragedy: The Hull fishermen who never came home
In the space of less than a month at the start of 1968, 58 fishermen based in the English port of Hull lost their lives in three separate trawler sinkings. Thanks to the efforts of a group of determined women, the deaths would change the industry, with the ripples spreading from the Arctic Sea to the steps of Downing Street. – “I am going over. We are laying over. Help me. I’m going over,” skipper Phil Gay pleaded in a final, desperate message from the Ross Cleveland, which sank while sheltering from a storm in an inlet near Isafjordur in Iceland on 4 February. The Ross Cleveland was the third vessel to sink, in what became known as the triple trawler tragedy. >click to read< 21:14
