Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Emily Davies
-
Standard Name: Davies, Emily
Birth Name: Sarah Emily Davies
ED
's literary work arose from her deep-seated belief in equal treatment for women. Most of her articles and essays were pragmatic contributions to the late nineteenth-century campaign, of which she was a leader, to improve female education. She positioned herself not as a radical seeking to overthrow the structures of society, but as a member of the establishment seeking reasonable reform.
Partly through her membership of the Kensington Society
(a social and political discussion group of about fifty women inaugurated in 1865), JB
broadened her acquaintance with significant members of the feminist movement, including Frances Power Cobbe
Lowndes, Marie Belloc. I, Too, Have Lived in Arcadia. Macmillan.
338
One of her closest non-literary friends was Mary Merryweather
, a Quaker nurse who shared BRP
's interest in promoting standards of...
Friends, Associates
George Eliot
Some of her closest friends were prominent feminists, and they were among those soonest willing to flout convention and visit her after her union to Lewes.
Despite the social and spiritual gulf between them, GE
Kent, Susan Kingsley. Sex and Suffrage in Britain, 1860-1914. Princeton University Press.
186
Robson, Ann P. et al. “Introduction and Editorial Materials”. Sexual Equality, University of Toronto Press, p. vii - xxxv; various pages.
xxvii
Friends, Associates
Emily Faithfull
EF
suffered in various ways as a result of the trial. The sense that she had prevaricated, at the very least, alienated many of her associates on The English Woman's Journal, including Emily Davies
Friends, Associates
Maria Grey
Her work for women's education brought MG
into contact with Dorothea Beale
, Emily Davies
, Mary Carpenter
, and Mary Gurney
. Her time in Italy brought her other friends, among them the operatic...
Friends, Associates
Matilda Hays
Working on the English Woman's Journal strengthened MH
's connection to members of the Langham Place Group
. The tie that she formed with with Theodosia, Lady Monson
, lasted into her obscure later years...
Instructor
Henrietta Müller
This was the first year that Girton was located at the village of the same name, just outside Cambridge, instead of further away at Hitchin. While enrolled there, Henrietta Müller
was inspired—in part by Emily Davies
Occupation
John Stuart Mill
JSM
served as independent MP for Westminster from 1865 to 1868.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Oxford University Press.
Mill, John Stuart, and John Jacob Coss. Autobiography. Columbia University Press.
vii
The Concise Dictionary of National Biography: From Earliest Times to 1985. Oxford University Press.
BLSB
helped Emily Davies
to found Girton College
, which was of but not in Cambridge, the first step towards a women's college at one of the ancient English universities.
Herstein, Sheila R. A Mid-Victorian Feminist: Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. Yale University Press.
173
Betham-Edwards, Matilda. Reminiscences. G. Redway, p. vi, 354 pp.
273
Occupation
Josephine Butler
In 1868 JB
(as president of the organization
from 1867 until around 1871) presented its petition for the examination of women candidates for entrance to Cambridge University
. The petition was granted in 1869, and...
Occupation
Emily Shirreff
ES
began her term as headmistress of Emily Davies
's Girton College
(at that time known as Hitchin College); she held the position for less than a year.
Ellsworth, Edward W. Liberators of the Female Mind: The Shirreff Sisters, Educational Reform, and the Women’s Movement. Greenwood.
140
politics
Lydia Becker
Other women who served in this position were Elizabeth Garrett
and Emily Davies
in London, and Flora Stevenson
in Edinburgh. LB
was re-elected seven consecutive times. The passage of the 1870 Education Act had created...
Timeline
March 1858: The English Woman's Journal, a monthly magazine...
Women writers item
March 1858
The English Woman's Journal, a monthly magazine on the theory and practice of organised feminism, began publication in London, with financial support from Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
and others, under the editorship of...
Late 1859: The offices of The English Woman's Journal...
Women writers item
Late 1859
The offices of The English Woman's Journal moved from Cavendish Square to 19 Langham Place, where a ladies' club was also planned.
1862: The London meeting of the National Association...
April 1862: The Senate of the University of London voted...
Building item
April 1862
The Senate of the University of London voted against allowing women into their medical degree programme.
August 1864: The English Woman's Journal, a practical...
Building item
August 1864
The English Woman's Journal, a practical and theoretical source of organized feminism from London, merged into The Alexandra Magazine and English Woman's Journal.
August 1864: The English Woman's Journal, a practical...
Building item
August 1864
The English Woman's Journal, a practical and theoretical source of organized feminism from London, merged into The Alexandra Magazine and English Woman's Journal.
1865: Cambridge University formally admitted female...
Building item
1865
Cambridge University
formally admitted female students to Local Examinations, which were the culminating assessment of secondary schooling.
23 May 1865: The Kensington Society, a quarterly women's...
Building item
23 May 1865
The Kensington Society
, a quarterly women's discussion group devoted to social and political issues, held its inaugural meeting in London.
1866: Anne Jemima Clough and Josephine Butler founded...
1868: London University established a special examination...
Building item
1868
London University
established a special examination for women over eighteen.
1868: The report of the Schools Inquiry or Taunton...
National or international item
1868
The report of the Schools Inquiry
or Taunton Commission supported the view of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
, Emily Davies
, and others that girls' education required reform.
1869: The Cambridge Higher Local Examinations for...
2 August 1869: The Endowed Schools Act effected educational...
National or international item
2 August 1869
The Endowed Schools Act effected educational reform and improved funding for girls' schooling.
16 October 1869: Educational reformer Emily Davies welcomed...
Building item
16 October 1869
Educational reformer Emily Davies
welcomed the first five students to Girton College
.
Texts
Davies, Emily. “Chronology, Introduction”. Collected Letters, 1861-1875, edited by Ann E. Murphy and Deirdre Raftery, University of Virginia Press, 2004, p. ix - xii, xix-lv.
Davies, Emily. Collected Letters, 1861-1875. Editors Murphy, Ann E. and Deirdre Raftery, University of Virginia Press, 2004.
Parkes, Bessie Rayner et al., editors. English Woman’s Journal. English Woman’s Journal Company.
Howarth, Janet, and Emily Davies. “Introduction”. The Higher Education of Women, Hambledon Press, 1988.
Davies, Emily. Medicine as a Profession for Women. Emily Faithfull, 1862.
Davies, Emily. On Secondary Instruction as Relating to Girls. William Ridgway, 1864.
Davies, Emily. The Application of Funds to the Education of Girls. Longmans, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1865.
Davies, Emily. The Higher Education of Women. Alexander Strahan, 1866.
Davies, Emily. The Higher Education of Women. Editor Howarth, Janet, Cambridge University Press, 2010, http://www.cambridge.org/series/sSeries.asp?code=CLOR.
Davies, Emily. Thoughts on Some Questions Relating to Women, 1860-1908. Bowes and Bowes, 1910.
Davies, Emily, and E. E. Constance Jones. Thoughts on Some Questions Relating to Women, 1860-1908. AMS Press, 1973.
Davies, Emily. Women in the Universities of England and Scotland. Macmillan and Bowes, 1896.
