Zoah Hedges-Stocks
Zoah Hedges-Stocks is an English journalist who became the first travelling showman to study at and graduate from the University of Cambridge.
Biography
Hedges-Stocks was born into a Suffolk family of travelling showmen,[1] who have worked on fairgrounds since the 1800s.[2][3] As a child she worked on the dodgems and candy floss stalls of the family fair during the summer season[4] and lived at Leiston, near Aldeburgh, in the winter.[5]
Despite despite having disrupted schooldays Hedges-Stocks achieved an two As and a B in her A-Levels. Hedges-Stocks matriculated to Murray Edwards College at the University of Cambridge in 2010.[6] She studied History and achieved a first class degree.[7] During her studies, she edited The Cambridge Student newspaper.[5]
Hedges-Stocks has commented that: "Among travelling showmen it’s often felt that education isn’t that relevant, you know what you’re going to do — settle down with a nice traveller boy and work on the fairs. A lot of people in my community didn’t understand the application process was selective — they assumed you could walk in. This wasn’t to do with ignorance it’s just not really part of our world. People were interested as it was something new and exciting."[6]
Her story attracted coverage in the national press and on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.[2][8] In January 2014, she began a journalism training course with the Press Association. She now works as a freelance journalist, writing for the Barking and Dagenham Post,[9] The Independent, Newnham Recorder,[10] and The Telegraph,[11] among other local and national publications.
She has used her platform as a journalist and Cambridge alumnus to criticise Murray Edwards President, Dorothy Byrne, who planned in 2021 to introduce a series of seminars to teach women about their fertility in response to the falling national birth rate.[12] Also in 2021, she went viral on Twitter after people misinterpreted her surname and approached her for financial advice, prompting her to tweet "this is not a finance account."[13]
References
- ^ "The road less travelled: 'Everything that I learnt on the fair I apply". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Varsity Profile: Zoah Hedges-Stocks". Varsity Online. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "Dame Mary Beard calls for educational disadvantage to be tackled". BBC News. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "Caravan girl wins place at Cambridge". CaravanTimes. 12 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Q&A: Zoah Hedges-Stock". Great British Life. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Student Makes First In Traveller History By Graduating From Cambridge". HuffPost UK. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "First among unequals at Cambridge". Metro. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "Uni girl's fairground attraction". East Anglian Daily Times. 4 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ Hedges-Stocks, Zoah (27 November 2016). "Post Memories: Exhibition celebrates Dagenham designer who created clothes for the Queen". Barking and Dagenham Post. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ Hedges-Stocks, Zoah (25 August 2016). "St Bonaventure's shines bright on GCSE results day". Newham Recorder. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ Hedges-Stocks, Zoah (25 January 2018). "The Dam Busters: why Peter Jackson's remake keeps hitting a wall". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ Freedland, Jacob; Kennedy, Esmé; Petrie, Aoife (15 October 2021). "Outrage at Medwards President's fertility comments". Varsity Online. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "GameStop frenzy prompts Hedges-Stocks viral surname mix-up". BBC News. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2025.