26 September 1913 is a key date in the history of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York. That's the date when Maud Sellers broke the 300 year drought of female members in the Company. In the medieval period women stood beside their fellow male counterparts as members of the Mistery of Mercers - as the Company was then known - and the first documented female member of the Mistery was Marion Kent, who joined the guild in 1447. Anne Hart appears in the Company records around about 1681, with Jane Stainton close behind. 

Maud Sellers’ entry into the Company marks the end of a three-hundred-year period where women were not accepted into the company; it also marks the beginning of her complete renovation and reformation of the Hall and its archives.

Sellers was one of the group of 'Steamboat Ladies'. Having originally studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, she had been unable to receive a degree award due to being a women. As a result, she - and many hundreds of other women - travelled to Trinity College Dublin, who had an agreement with Oxford and Cambridge and could award degrees on their behalf. Not only that, she went on to study for a PhD, which she was awarded in 1907. Maybe this experience was why Maud was not deterred from making an impact upon a heavily male dominated business that sought for any inkling of a mistake that could discredit her position as a powerful woman.

Edwardian Britain was not kind to a woman like Maud.

Having first visited the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall in 1895, Maud became interested in its history and, after aiding in the renovation of the hall, she was made a member in 1913. In 1918 she became the Honorary Archivist of the Company and worked as its curator.

The Company at this time was male dominated, and Maud recognised this in one of her letters to a Mr Crombie in 1928. She passionately argues against the male domination in the Hall and the different treatment she gets. She had an idea for windows in the Hall, however a male Company member tried to take credit for this. She writes 'that men should treat a woman who as done as much as I have in this way is to me incomprehensible. I suppose one woman against so many men ought not to expect fair treatment, and after all it is the Hall itself in so much I am interested and it is not so very difficult to recall 'all men are liars', though I do dislike to work with folks whom I cannot trust.' This defiance of the male domination in the Hall at the time shows Maud’s laudable character - she was determined, defiant and would fight for her own space. It is sad that 100 years later woman in some professions still have to do this.

Maud also created eight published works and gave guided tours of the Hall to people like the Belgian refugees she toured around during the First World War. This dedication and kind heartedness is what made Maud so significant in the history of the Hall.

Upon her death in 1939 the Company praised Maud incredibly highly, stating 'she worked unceasingly' therefore 'there is nothing left in our history that could be traced that has not been traced by her.' Quite the reversal in opinion, however, the Company today is a much changed atmosphere with many female members, including women holding senior positions. 

The mark of Maud Sellers on the modern Merchant Adventurers' Hall is undeniable. Through her trailblazing research and commitment to historical preservation and education, Maud made certain that the position of the Hall was cemented as one of York's foremost historical attractions. When Maud first joined the Hall, it was a shell of its former self, a crumbling relic in need of some serious restoration.

So, Maud made it her mission to restore the Hall to its earlier glory, and safeguarded its place within York's history. Maud meticulously collated account rolls and minute books from members of the Hall; she even found charters, which helped significantly shape the industrial history of York. Maud's efforts secured funding for the Hall, and allowed its restoration which, coupled with the substantial archive she collated, secured its place as a modern historical attraction. 

Without Maud's undeniable commitment to the preservation of the Hall, the historical landscape of York would have a gaping hole. Maud is at the heart of York's history, and she has been of unimaginable value to historians for generations.