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31 December 1729: Mary Unknown, a political pamphleteer also...

Women writers item

31 December 1729

Mary Unknown , a political pamphleteer also writing as Thom Tell Truth , was interrogated before Walpole and Newcastle about her authorship of a libel entitled A Letter to a Member of Parliament in the North.
McDowell, Paula. The Women of Grub Street: Press, Politics, and Gender in the London Literary Marketplace, 1678-1730. Clarendon, 1998.
12-13

Frances Seymour, Countess of Hertford

Living an upper-class life in the eighteenth century, Lady Hertford did not publish; her patronage activity was as important as her writing. But as well as letters, a fragmentary political journal, and commonplace-books, she wrote...
Frances Seymour, Countess of Hertford Frances Seymour, Countess of Hertford's two anti-slavery poems "The Story of Inkle and Yarico" and "An Epistle from Yarico to Inkle, after he had sold her for a Slave", published in 1725, had a long afterlife on the page and in the theatre. The operatic version dates from 1787. This print, which illustrated an undated edition in Dutch, shows Inkle, arrived in Jamaica, selling his pregnant native American lover and rescuer.

June 1861: Gold was discovered at Otago, South Island,...

National or international item

June 1861

Gold was discovered at Otago, South Island, New Zealand.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 940

By June 1946: Gilbert Stuart's English translation of Albert...

Writer or writing item

By June 1946

Gilbert Stuart 's English translation of Albert Camus ' existential novel The Outsider appeared in print: the book's reputation in Britain preceded the translation.
“A Victim”. Times Literary Supplement, No. 2316, 22 June 1946, p. 293.
293

1928-1934: Significant progress was made in Shanxi province...

Building and people item

1928-1934

Significant progress was made in Shanxi province in China towards stamping out the practice of footbinding for women.
Mitter, Rana. “Untwisting the Pastry”. London Review of Books, 11 May 2006, pp. 27-9.
27-9

16 October 1834: Fire destroyed the British Houses of Parliament,...

National or international item

16 October 1834

Fire destroyed the British Houses of Parliament, which were then rebuilt from 1841 to 1863 in the Gothic style.
Phillips, Janet, and Peter Phillips. Victorians at Home and Away. Croom Helm, 1978.
44
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
259
Bell, Quentin. Victorian Artists. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967.
24
Maas, Jeremy. Victorian Painters. Barrie and Jenkins, 1978.
14

1783: John Flaxman and the Rev. A. S. Mathew paid...

Writer or writing item

1783

John Flaxman and the Rev. A. S. Mathew paid for the printing (not publication) of William Blake 's first book, Poetical Sketches.
Hamlyn, Robin, and Michael Phillips. William Blake. Tate Gallery, 2000.
42

Late 1790: William Holland published a print of Burke...

National or international item

Late 1790

William Holland published a print of Burke running the gauntlet of enemies with whips: women as well as men.
Guest, Harriet. Small Change: Women, Learning, Patriotism, 1750-1810. University of Chicago Press, 2000.
224-5

Later 1922: Thirty-one women candidates sought office...

National or international item

Later 1922

Thirty-one women candidates sought office during the general election campaign, but none were elected to parliament except the sitting members Lady Astor and Margaret Wintringham .
Phillips, Melanie. The Divided House: Women at Westminster. Sidgwick and Jackson, 1980.
44
Red Clydeside: A History of the Labour Movement in Glasgow 1910-1932. 16 Mar. 2003, http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/redclyde/.

Mary Peisley

MP was less of an author, either in spirit or practice, than her friend and associate Catherine Phillips , yet writing was an important part of her brief but highly successful career in the mid...

12 July 1539: With Henry VIII's personal support, an Act...

National or international item

12 July 1539

With Henry VIII 's personal support, an Act came into force establishing Six Articles of Religion for the Church in England (still at this date the Catholic Church ) to subscribe to.
Ridley, Jasper. Henry VIII. Constable, 1984.
329-31

February 1913: The last issue of The Link: The Organ of...

Building and people item

February 1913

The last issue of The Link: The Organ of the Women's Socialist Movement was published in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
31
Harrison, Royden et al. The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals, 1790-1970: A Check List. Harvester Press, 1977.
286

1806: German pharmacy assistant Frederick Sertürner...

Building and people item

1806

German pharmacy assistant Frederick Sertürner isolated the drug morphia from opium; it became widely available in Britain from the 1820s.
Duin, Nancy, and Jenny Sutcliffe. A History of Medicine: From Prehistory to the Year 2020. Simon and Schuster, 1992.
51
Parssinen, Terry M. Secret Passions, Secret Remedies: Narcotic Drugs in British Society 1820-1930. Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1983.
79
Historians Duin and Sutcliffe give 1803 as the year of this discovery. However...

1908: The first self-closing doors on lifts were...

National or international item

1908

The first self-closing doors on lifts were exhibited at the Manchester Electrical Exhibition.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
168

1296: Edward I signalled the presumed success of...

National or international item

1296

Edward I signalled the presumed success of his invasion and subjugation of Scotland (of which he claimed feudal overlordship) by removing to Westminster Abbey the Stone of Scone, which was linked to the crowning...

Late October 1862: John William Colenso, Bishop of Natal, published...

Building and people item

Late October 1862

John William Colenso , Bishop of Natal, published the first volume of his controversial The Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua Critically Examined, challenging the literal truth of the Bible on scientific grounds.
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.
Mitchell, Sally. Frances Power Cobbe: Victorian Feminist, Journalist, Reformer. University of Virginia Press, 2004.
131

1875: Matilda Browne began publishing Myra's Journal...

Building and people item

1875

Matilda Browne began publishing Myra's Journal of Dress and Fashion in London.
White, Cynthia L. Women’s Magazines 1693-1968. Michael Joseph, 1970.
55

5 February 1870: Following the transfer of the telegraph system...

Building and people item

5 February 1870

Following the transfer of the telegraph system to the Post Office , telegraph operators became the first female Civil Servants.
Martindale, Hilda. Women Servants of the State, 1870-1938: A History of Women in the Civil Service. G. Allen and Unwin , 1938.
15-19

May 1829: A Ladies' Bazaar to benefit Spanish refugees,...

Building and people item

May 1829

A Ladies' Bazaar to benefit Spanish refugees, held at the Hanover Square Rooms in London, patron the Duke of Wellington , raised the remarkable sum of £2,000.
“Deaprtments. Travel. Stanhope, Lady Caroline”. Bernard Quaritch Ltd.

From 1881 to 1885: London suffered on average fifty-five days...

Building and people item

From 1881 to 1885

London suffered on average fifty-five days of fog per year; the figure rose during 1886-90.
Ascherson, Neal. “Brown Goo like Marmite”. London Review of Books, Vol.
37
, No. 19, 8 Oct. 2015, pp. 5-8.
6

Edna O'Brien

Throughout her career, contemporary Irish writer EOB has published novels, short stories, drama, screen and teleplays, poetry, travel writing, and children's books. Her imaginative writing, in which she experiments with linguistic and narrative conventions, almost...
Edna O'Brien Black-and-white photo of Edna O'brien, December 1970. Seated, she is wearing an eclectic coat with different textual patterns and black fur sleeves and collar. Her hair is back in a relaxed bouffant updo.

1769: Mrs Crisp (that is Elizabeth Crisp, née Marsh)...

Women writers item

1769

Mrs Crisp (that is Elizabeth Crisp, née Marsh ) published by subscription The Female Captive, an account of her capture by Moroccan corsairs in 1756 and narrow escape from a new life in the...

1978: Philosopher Philippa Foot's most important...

Women writers item

1978

Philosopher Philippa Foot 's most important essays from 1957 to 1976 were collected in Virtues and Vices.
Kersey, Ethel M. Women Philosophers: A Bio-Critical Source Book. Greenwood, 1989.
103-5

23 October 1920: In his novel Main Street, Sinclair Lewis...

Writer or writing item

23 October 1920

In his novel Main Street, Sinclair Lewis excoriated the small-town life often represented in American literature as the backbone of national life.
Borne Back Daily. 2001, http://borneback.com/ .
23 October 2008
Oehlschlaeger, Fritz H. “Hamlin Garland and the Pullitzer Prize Controversy of 1921”. American Literature, Vol.
51
, No. 3, Nov. 1979, pp. 409-14.
410

June 1757: Robert Clive's forces defeated the Nawab...

National or international item

June 1757

Robert Clive 's forces defeated the Nawab of Bengal at the battle of Plassey, consolidating UK power on the subcontinent.
Newman, Gerald, editor. Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837: An Encyclopedia. Garland, 1997.
136
Bayly, Christopher Alan. Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire. Cambridge University Press, 1988.
45-51
Pagden, Anthony. “C is for Colonies”. London Review of Books, 11 May 2006, pp. 30-1.
30
Dalrymple, William. “The original corporate raiders”. Guardian Weekly, 20 Mar. 2015, pp. 26-9.
27