Cicely Hamilton

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CH 's early twentieth-century plays, novels, feminist prose, and travel writing are firmly rooted in her politics, and demonstrate her skill as political satirist. As a propagandist her method is often to take the views of the other side and render them ridiculous. Her earlier writings reflect her commitment to women's suffrage and economic independence, while her later work focuses primarily on war.
Black and white photograph of Cicely Hamilton, shown from the shoulders up. She is wearing a shimmery beaded jacket, and her hair is jaw-length and wavy.

Milestones

15 June 1872
Cicely Hammill (who later called herself CH ) was born at home in Paddington, London.
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
7
12 February 1908
CH 's first full-length play, Diana of Dobson's, opened at the Kingsway Theatre in London.
Demastes, William W., and Katherine E. Kelly, editors. British Playwrights, 1880-1956. Greenwood Press, 1996.
190
13 April 1909
CH 's one-act suffrage play, How the Vote Was Won, co-written with Christopher St John , opened at the Royalty Theatre .
Demastes, William W., and Katherine E. Kelly, editors. British Playwrights, 1880-1956. Greenwood Press, 1996.
191
1940
CH returned to her favourite subjects in her last two works: Lament for Democracy (an anti-Fascist political treatise) and The Englishwoman.
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
229-30
British Library Catalogue.
5 December 1952
CH died in London of heart failure, at the age of eighty.
Although her Times obituary (8 December) and her biographer.Lis Whitelaw give 6 December as the date of death, the Dictionary of British Women Writers and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography say 5 December.
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
234
Shattock, Joanne. The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers. Oxford University Press, 1993.
202
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray, Brian Harrison, and Lawrence Goldman, editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Biography

Birth

15 June 1872
Cicely Hammill (who later called herself CH ) was born at home in Paddington, London.
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
7

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