The latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography adds 100 biographies of men and women active between the early 13th and late 20th centuries, including Alma Taylor, Robert Stephenson, Margaret Clement and Alonso Cárdenas.

The new update (published on 29 May) incorporates a special focus on a century of British cinema – from the silent stars of the 1910s to the actors, directors, and producers of later 20th Century films such as Get Carter and Carry On. The update also includes new biographies of 20 early modern nuns who, in the wake of the Reformation, founded or entered ‘English convents in exile’ in continental Europe and North America.

Other new biographies include Charles Miller (1874-1953), ‘bringer of football to Brazil’ and Cuthbert Ottaway (1850-1878), recently in the news as the first captain of the England national football team, but better known in his lifetime as an Oxford University cricketer. There’s also the unusual and remarkable story of the medieval anchoress Christina Carpenter (fl.1329-1332) who was twice enclosed in a cell.

Highlights of the new edition are available to browse, together with an interactive timeline of the ODNB’s history of British cinema. The ODNB also offers a free, twice monthly biography podcast, with over 200 life stories now available.

Readers can access the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography via SOLO and Databases A-Z.