Jenna Zmrzel

Research Topic

Thomas Cook, Women Travellers, and the Gender Dynamics of Leisure, c.1855-1903

My research examines female participation in Thomas Cook’s early excursions. Beginning with Cook’s first European tour in 1855 a significant number of his customers were women. I examine first-hand accounts from women who travelled with Cook to better understand the gender dynamics of his tours and the accessibility of leisure in the nineteenth century. I am also interested in how women financed their excursions and whether their personal finances were representative of wider working- and middle-class society.

I previously completed an MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge with a dissertation entitled The Anglo-Indian Traveller and Her Relation to Empire and a BA in French Studies at the University of San Francisco. 

Supervisor: Kathryn Gleadle