The Headscarf Revolutionaries: Lillian Bilocca and the Hull Triple-Trawler Disaster

Product Information

A calm evening fast turned into a stormy night; the fishing vessel lost all 20 crewmates to the briny sea. She married Carmelo [Charlie] Bilocca (1902–1981), a Maltese sailor who worked with the Hull-based Ellerman-Wilson Line, and later as a trawlerman.

Next day, Lillian Bilocca, Yvonne Blenkinsop and Mary Denness, representing the Hessle Road Women’s Group, set off for London with 10,000 signatures, their Fishermen’s Charter and a media circus in tow. Unbeknown to 'Big Lil' as she came to be known, while she was protesting, her young son Ernie was also caught up in the storm and fighting for his life. I overheard the professor say to his colleague that he was keen to supervise a student who could put forward a creative non-fiction thesis that was relevant to Hull.Upon hearing of the loss of the second vessel, Bilocca is said to have exclaimed to her daughter that "enough is enough" and resolved to take action. She started with a petition and this journey takes her Headscarf Revolutionaries right to the doors of Parliament.

Bilocca initially attempted to prevent what she considered to be under-manned trawlers from putting to sea from Hull's St Andrew's Dock and had to be restrained by four policemen and policewomen to prevent her from doing so. 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 cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. But the men were at sea for three weeks or more at a time, and would lose their jobs or not be picked for crews if they campaigned when they were on shore. How many fathers, husbands, brothers and sons were saved because of the legislation that Yvonne and her fellow revolutionaries fought to see passed?

The new fishermen's charter laid the foundations for safety at sea for generations to come, and was welcomed by all.

Lilian Bilocca started with a petition, took her battle to the docks at dawn, and then led a raid on Parliament. Lilian Bilocca put down her filleting knife, picked up some sheets of paper and stormed into action. 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. People should never put money before people’s lives”: the words of Yvonne Blenkinsop who died this April.