Jessie Boucherett

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Standard Name: Boucherett, Jessie
Birth Name: Emilia Jessie Boucherett
An unlikely feminist in view of her wealthy and conservative background, JB was a prominent member of the Langham Place group, who established, edited, and contributed to the Englishwoman's Review during the second half of the nineteenth century. Aside from one book-length work, all of her writings were essays and articles printed in various journals and collections. Her writings deal with topics relating to women's rights, particularly the suffrage movement and women's employment.
Black and white photograph of Jessie Boucherett, standing with one arm resting on the back of a chair. There is a screen with a pattern of vines behind her, and she is wearing a fur-trimmed coat and a small hat.

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Occupation Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
Jessie Boucherett and Adelaide Procter served as the honorary secretaries, Sarah Lewin and Emily Crow acted as executive secretaries, and BLSB , Bessie Rayner Parkes, and Emily Faithfull served on the advisory committee.
Occupation Josephine Butler
JB threw herself into social work of all kinds, aiming to assist those less fortunate than herself. She began by visiting and examining oakum sheds, in which women, both prison inmates and creatures driven...
Occupation John Stuart Mill
In 1866 JSM presented to the House of Commons with parliament's first major suffrage petition. The petition, drafted by Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon , Jessie Boucherett , and Emily Davies , and signed by...
politics Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
BLSB and other Langham feminists such as Jessie Boucherett and Emily Davies formed the society for the discussion of political and social issues. The first meeting was held at the home of Charlotte Manning ...
politics Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
Isa Craig , Emily Davies , Bessie Parkes , Jessie Boucherett , and Elizabeth Garrett were members of the committee. Later on Clementia Taylor joined it too.
Herstein, Sheila R. A Mid-Victorian Feminist: Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. Yale University Press, 1985.
154-5
politics Emily Faithfull
By 1859 The English Woman's Journal was felt to be no longer adequate on its own for promoting women's work, and Jessie Boucherett suggested the creation of a society which would deal specifically with this...
politics Adelaide Procter
Earlier in the year, the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science had appointed AP as member of a committee to consider ways of providing employment opportunities for women. It was an appointment that...
politics Bessie Rayner Parkes
Besides editing the English Woman's Journal, BRP collaborated in 1859 with other group members Emily Faithfull and Adelaide Procter to found the Victoria Press (established on 25 March 1860).
Levine, Philippa. Feminist Lives in Victorian England: Private Roles and Public Commitment. Basil Blackwell, 1990.
9
Thesing, William B., editor. Dictionary of Literary Biography 240. Gale Research, 2001.
240: 187
She also...
politics Helen Blackburn
HB , Jessie Boucherett , and Ada Heather-Biggs founded the Women's Employment Defence League , which opposed protective legislation for women workers.
Norman Soldon in Women in British Trade Unions confirms that HB and Jessie...
politics Helen Blackburn
She was a committee member of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women , an organization (founded in 1859) that sought to train women and encourage the provision of job opportunities for them. Other...
Publishing Helen Blackburn
HB edited the Englishwoman's Review, becoming a close associate of the proprietor, Jessie Boucherett , and later working with Ann Mackenzie .
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2024, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Reception Frances Power Cobbe
FPC 's importance to her contemporaries is most readily recalled today by the fact that Matthew Arnold thought her a worthy target of his corrective wisdom in The Function of Criticism at the Present Time...
Textual Features Josephine Butler
The new magazine continued Kettledrum's current serial by Menella Bute Smedley , entitled Lucy Ferrars, and some pieces related to JB 's edited collection Woman's Work and Woman's Culture, published the same...
Textual Production Josephine Butler
It was intended to provide information about progress on an international scale about the campaign for women's education. Biographer Jane Jordan notes that Elizabeth Wolstenholme and Jessie Boucherett backed Josephine with articles for the first...
Textual Production Emily Faithfull
EF also published Mary Merryweather 's Experience of Factory Life.
Fredeman, William E. “Emily Faithfull and the Victoria Press: An Experiment in Sociological Bibliography”. The Library, Vol.
29
, No. 2, –June 1974, pp. 139-64.
162
As a publisher she produced a high proportion of texts by female authors, including Frances Power Cobbe , Sarah Stickney Ellis , Louisa Twining

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...

7 July 1859: The first meeting of the Society for Promoting...

Building item

7 July 1859

The first meeting of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women was held in London; founding members included Anna Jameson , Emily Faithfull , Jessie Boucherett , Adelaide Procter , Bessie Rayner Parkes , Isa Craig , and Sarah Lewin .
Stone, James S. Emily Faithfull: Victorian Champion of Women’s Rights. P. D. Meany, 1994.
42

October 1859: The Society for Promoting the Employment...

National or international item

October 1859

The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women officially joined with the Social Science Association .
Herstein, Sheila R. A Mid-Victorian Feminist: Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. Yale University Press, 1985.
140, 142

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.
Herstein, Sheila R. A Mid-Victorian Feminist: Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. Yale University Press, 1985.
140
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

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.
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.
under Anna Brownell Jameson
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
1-2

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.
Stephen, Barbara. Emily Davies and Girton College. Constable, 1927.
106, 147
Mitchell, Sally. Frances Power Cobbe: Victorian Feminist, Journalist, Reformer. University of Virginia Press, 2004.
150

January 1866: The Englishwoman's Review began publication...

Building item

January 1866

The Englishwoman's Review began publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
3
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.
118-19
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
434

7 June 1866: John Stuart Mill presented to the House of...

National or international item

7 June 1866

John Stuart Mill presented to the House of Commons a suffrage petition signed by 1,499 women, drafted by Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon , Jessie Boucherett , and Emily Davies .
Rover, Constance. Women’s Suffrage and Party Politics in Britain, 1866-1914. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967.
2, 5, 218
Soldon, Norbert. Women in British Trade Unions 1874-1976. Gill and Macmillan, 1978.
7

January 1869: The Kettledrum: The Woman's Signal for Action,...

Building item

January 1869

The Kettledrum: The Woman's Signal for Action, a feminist magazine, began publication in London by merger with Woman's World.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
4
White, Cynthia L. Women’s Magazines 1693-1968. Michael Joseph, 1970.
48
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.

June 1869: The Kettledrum: The Woman's Signal for Action...

Building item

June 1869

The Kettledrum: The Woman's Signal for Action ended publication in London in its current form.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
4
White, Cynthia L. Women’s Magazines 1693-1968. Michael Joseph, 1970.
48

July 1910: The Englishwoman's Review ended publication...

Building item

July 1910

The Englishwoman's Review ended publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
3
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.
under Jessie Boucherett
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
434

Texts

Boucherett, Jessie. “County Councils Election and Women Householders”. Englishwoman’s Review, Vol.
23
, No. 1, pp. 1-4.
Boucherett, Jessie et al., editors. Englishwoman’s Review. Williams and Norgate, 41 vols.
Boucherett, Jessie. “Frances Power Cobbe”. Englishwoman’s Review, Vol.
261
, 1904, pp. 133-5.
Boucherett, Jessie. Hints on Self-Help. S. W. Partridge, 1863.
Boucherett, Jessie. “How to Provide for Superfluous Women”. Woman’s Work and Woman’s Culture, edited by Josephine Butler, Macmillan, 1869, pp. 27-48.
Boucherett, Jessie. “On the Choice of a Business”. English Woman’s Journal.
Boucherett, Jessie. “On the Choice of a Business”. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon and the Langham Place Group, edited by Candida Ann Lacey, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 258-67.
Boucherett, Jessie. “On the Education of Girls with Reference to their Future Position”. English Woman’s Journal.
Boucherett, Jessie. “On the Education of Girls with Reference to their Future Position”. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon and the Langham Place Group, edited by Candida Ann Lacey, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 241-49.
Boucherett, Jessie. “On the Obstacles to the Employment of Women”. English Woman’s Journal.
Boucherett, Jessie. “On the Obstacles to the Employment of Women”. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon and the Langham Place Group, edited by Candida Ann Lacey, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 225-40.
Boucherett, Jessie. “The Condition of Women in France”. Contemporary Review.
Boucherett, Jessie. The Condition of Women in France. Strahan, 1868.
Boucherett, Jessie, and Helen Blackburn. The Condition of Working Women and the Factory Acts. Elliot Stock, 1896.
Boucherett, Jessie. “The Fall in Women’s Wages”. Englishwoman’s Review, Vol.
29
, No. 2, pp. 73-81.
Boucherett, Jessie. “The Report on the Employment of Women”. Englishwoman’s Review, Vol.
25
, No. 1, pp. 1-9.