Our Favorites: Mr. and Mrs. How

Womanica

Acast Creative Studios

History, Society & Culture, Education

4.3 • 920 Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2025

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

James How, also known as Mary East, and their wife Mrs. How (c. 1760s) were pillars of their eighteenth century English community, until a blackmailer attempted to expose Mr. How's "true" gender.

For the past six years, we’ve been telling the stories of women you may or may now know– but definitely should. This month, we’re bringing back our favorite Womanica episodes from across our back catalog. These are women throughout time and around the world who made their mark.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
0:07.1	For the past six years, we've been telling the stories of women you may or may not know about,
0:12.0	but definitely should. This month, we're bringing back our favorite Womanica episodes from
0:16.9	across the back catalog. These are women across centuries and around the world who made their mark.
0:24.0	With that, here's one of our favorite episodes.
0:31.4	Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
0:37.6	We're celebrating Pride Month with icons, Supreme Queens of Queer Culture.
0:42.7	Some are household names. Others are a little more behind the scenes.
0:46.9	All of these people have defied social norms and influenced generations of people to be
0:51.3	unapologetically themselves.
0:57.1	Today we're talking about a couple that became a pillar of their 18th century English community. They ran a popular business together and
1:02.8	were devoted partners. That is, until blackmailers outed them. Let's talk about Mr. and Mrs. Howe.
1:11.6	Before Mr. and Mrs. Howe were a couple, they met as teenagers.
1:15.6	They quickly decided they would marry and live together.
1:19.6	The two didn't come from money backgrounds, but were able to make a comfortable life for themselves
1:25.6	by writing a series of pubs and taverns in
1:27.9	London. Mr. Howe served as a parish constable and served on juries, roles that many respectable
1:35.3	gentlemen of the time held. By 1745, the couple had purchased the white horse pub on Poplar High Street.
1:44.1	Mr. and Mrs. Howe did most everything themselves. They didn't have staff at the purchased the White Horse Pub on Poplar High Street.
1:44.2	Mr. and Mrs. Howe did most everything themselves.
1:47.4	They didn't have staff at the pub, so they would draw the beer and lug out pots themselves.
1:52.6	They also didn't have any servants in their home, which was unusual for a couple of their
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