Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Explore Orlando
Here, you’ll find randomized material from across the textbase’s author profiles and timelines. To jump to the content of your choice, click on its image card.
Writer or writing
Author profile
Harriet E. Wilson
HEW
, the first black woman to publish a novel—Hannah Crafts
may have written the first one,—in the USA, created the form for such novels by subverting the form of fiction offered her...
14 June 1792: The title of radical novelist Robert Bage's...
Writer or writing item
14 June 1792
The title of radical novelist Robert Bage
's anonymous Man As He Is, published this day, suggests the unpalatable truths revealed by reformers or satirists; it influenced later titles chosen by William Godwin
and...
1642: Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (A Physician's...
Writer or writing item
1642
Sir Thomas Browne
's Religio Medici (A Physician's Faith) was most imperfectly and surreptitiously printed (in the words of the title-page of next year's authorised edition).
Cox, Michael, editor. The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press, 2002, 2 vols.
1 November 1863: The British Workwoman: Out and At Home, an...
Building and people item
1 November 1863
The British Workwoman: Out and At Home, an illustrated improving magazine, began monthly publication in London.
Harrison, Royden et al. The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals, 1790-1970: A Check List. Harvester Press, 1977.
54
8 November 1978: The General Synod of the Church of England...
Building and people item
8 November 1978
The General Synod of the Church of England
voted against the ordination of women, despite support for it from most bishops and lay members (not priests), and the recommendation of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Stott, Mary. “Ordination of Women: Flickering flame passed to new generation”. Times, 24 Sept. 1981, p. 12.
12
Furlong, Monica. Feminine in the Church. SPCK, 1984.
4
By 2 August 1856: Jane Margaret Strickland published a novel,...
Women writers item
By 2 August 1856
Jane Margaret Strickland
published a novel, Adonijah, a tale of the Jewish Dispersion; it was shortly attacked by George Eliot
in Silly Novels by Lady Novelists as one of the deplorable types of fiction...
13 February 1888: The Financial Times began publication; it...
Writer or writing item
13 February 1888
The Financial Times began publication; it was printed on its characteristic pink paper from 1893.
Schott, Ben. Schott’s Original Miscellany. Bloomsbury, 2002.
140
Solo: Search Oxford University Libraries Online. 18 July 2011, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=OXVU1&fromLogin=true&reset_config=true.
1 January 1916: The British edition of Vogue (an American...
Building and people item
1 January 1916
The British edition of Vogue (an American fashion magazine) began publishing from Condé Nast
in Hanover Square, London.
White, Cynthia L. Women’s Magazines 1693-1968. Michael Joseph, 1970.
90
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.
Spawls, Alice. “Does one flare or cling?”. London Review of Books, Vol.
38
, No. 9, 5 May 2016, pp. 40-2.
1885: Herman H. Ploss published Das Weib, which...
Building and people item
1885
Herman H. Ploss
published Das Weib, which became the canonical text on women for many years.
Moscucci, Ornella. The Science of Woman: Gynaecology and Gender in England, 1800-1929. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
24
20 November 1803: The Royal Philanthropic Expedition set sail...
National or international item
20 November 1803
The Royal Philanthropic Expedition set sail in three ships from La Coruna, to carry the practice of vaccination against smallpox to Spanish possessions in South America and Spanish outposts in China (Canton) and Macao).
Williams, Gareth. Angel of Death. The Story of Smallpox. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
215-17
Christmas Day 1657: John Evelyn was at morning Communion service...
Building and people item
Christmas Day 1657
John Evelyn
was at morning Communion service in a private chapel in London's Covent Garden area, when the whole congregation was rounded up by Puritan soldiers angry at such Christmas observance.
Dane, Clemence. London Has a Garden. Michael Joseph, 1964.
15
8 December 1786: The Times (not yet using its final and best-known...
Building and people item
8 December 1786
The Times (not yet using its final and best-known title) attributed the alleged rise in the number of prostitutes to the male takeover of traditionally female jobs (for example, milliner, dress-maker, stay-maker, and so on)....
5 March 1953: Joseph Stalin, long-time ruler of the USSR,...
National or international item
5 March 1953
Joseph Stalin
, long-time ruler of the USSR, died of a stroke; his body was embalmed, and lay in state for three days, during which time crowds massed to view their former leader.
Oxford Reference. http://www.oxfordreference.com.
December 1905: A young British officer, Hugh Trenchard,...
National or international item
December 1905
A young British officer, Hugh Trenchard
, ordered the massacre of inhabitants of the village of Ahiara in southern Nigeria in retaliation for the killing of another officer.
Gott, Richard. “Shoot them to be sure”. London Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2002, pp. 26-9.
28
1863: The Metropolitan Police in London founded...
Building and people item
1863
The Metropolitan Police in London founded its first dedicated vice squad, consisting of a sergeant and two constables employed in the suppression of obscene materials.
Bristow, Edward. Vice and Vigilance: Purity Movements in Britain Since 1700. Gill and Macmillan, 1977.
47
1807: The Geological Society of London was founded;...
National or international item
1807
The Geological Society of London
was founded; it adhered to empiricist methodology and did not admit women until the twentieth century.
Cannon, Susan Faye. Science in Culture: The Early Victorian Period. Dawson; Science History Publications, 1978.
226
Van Riper, A. Bowdoin. Men Among the Mammoths: Victorian Science and the Discovery of Human Prehistory. University of Chicago Press, 1993.
52
Alic, Margaret. Hypatia’s Heritage: A History of Women in Science. Women’s Press, 1985.
181
Taton, René, editor. Science in the Nineteenth Century. Translator Pomerans, Arnold J., Vol. 3, Basic Books, 1965.
345
1819: A Royal Navy squadron became active off West...
National or international item
1819
A Royal Navy
squadron became active off West Africa, fighting the continuance of the slave trade, which had been abolished on 1 May 1807.
Walvin, James. Black Ivory: A History of British Slavery. Howard University Press, 1994.
xii, 309
1871: Edward Lear published Nonsense Songs, Stories,...
Writer or writing item
1871
Edward Lear
published Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets, which included The Owl and the Pussy-Cat and The Jumblies.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
557
By August 1784: James Ramsay published An Essay on the Treatment...
Building and people item
By August 1784
James Ramsay
published An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of the African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies.
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
54 (1784): 597
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
23 September 2010: The British edition appeared of US author...
Writer or writing item
23 September 2010
The British edition appeared of US author Jonathan Franzen
's latest novel, Freedom. Within a couple of weeks the edition had to be pulped.
Brown, Derek. “Week in Britain. A mistake of genius”. Guardian Weekly, 8 Oct. 2010, p. 16.
Early 1894: The Local Government and Local Government...
National or international item
Early 1894
The Local Government and Local Government (Scotland) Acts made women eligible to vote for and be elected to Parish and District Councils, even if married; these acts did not apply to Ireland.
Cook, Chris, and John, 1946 - Stevenson. The Longman Handbook of Modern British History 1714-1987. 2nd ed., Longman, 1988.
133
1969: Helen Foley published The Bright Designs,...
Women writers item
1969
Helen Foley
published The Bright Designs, a novel (whose title appears to be drawn from William Cowper
's popular hymn God Moves in a Mysterious Way).
July 1967: The Latey Committee recommended that the...
Building and people item
July 1967
The Latey Committee recommended that the age of majority (including freedom to marry without parental consent) should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen; this was implemented.
Rogers, Rick. Crowther to Warnock: How fourteen reports tried to change children’s lives. Heinemann Educational Books in association with the International Year of the Child, 1980.
vi, 114
1847: The Calotype Club was founded to practice...
Building and people item
1847
The Calotype Club
was founded to practice and promote Talbot
's method of photography.
Hannavy, John. Masters of Victorian Photography. David and Charles, 1976.
20, 67
1677: At a boarding school in Oxford, a John Waver,...
Building and people item
1677
At a boarding school in Oxford, a John Waver
, Master in the art of dancing, offered instruction in dancing, singing, music, writing, and all manner of works.
Reynolds, Myra. The Learned Lady in England, 1650-1760. Houghton Mifflin, 1920.
