Winifred Holtby

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Standard Name: Holtby, Winifred
Birth Name: Winifred Holtby
WH 's posthumous reputation is based on her final novel, South Riding, published after her death. During her lifetime, she was better known as a prominent journalist, invited by Virginia Woolf in February 1935 to write her autobiography for the Hogarth Press .
Shaw, Marion. The Clear Stream: A Life of Winifred Holtby. Virago, 1999.
1
Black-and-white profile sketch of Winifred Hotlby, looking to the left with a neutral expression. Her wavy hair is bobbed and she wears a long necklace with two strings. The sketch is signed "P. Smith."

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Education Doreen Wallace
At Somerville DW became a close friend of Dorothy Sayers (their religious and political disagreements later drove them apart) and in her circle met Vera Brittain , Winifred Holtby , and theSitwells .
Leonardi, Susan J. Dangerous by Degrees: Women at Oxford and the Somerville College Novelists. Rutgers University Press, 1989, 254 p.
57
Education Margaret Kennedy
With the onset of war, the town had largely been emptied of male students, making women a more visible presence around the university. Somerville had a tradition of turning out successful women writers; in entering...
Family and Intimate relationships Vera Brittain
VB met Winifred Holtby at Somerville College , Oxford, where each was studying after war service.
Gorham, Deborah. Vera Brittain: A Feminist Life. Blackwell, 1996.
152-3
Berry, Paul, and Mark Bostridge. Vera Brittain: A Life. Chatto and Windus, 1995.
143
Family and Intimate relationships Vera Brittain
After Brittain returned to London, Catlin continued teaching at Cornell , and together they pursued their semi-detached marriage: she lived in London, sharing her household with Winifred Holtby , while he spent four and...
Family and Intimate relationships Vera Brittain
VB was devastated when Winifred Holtby died, at 6:25 am on 29 September 1935. Holtby died after a long illness (renal sclerosis, whose seriousness Brittain had found it difficult to accept), at the Elizabeth Fulcher...
Friends, Associates Phyllis Bentley
PB began one of the most important friendships of her life when she met Winifred Holtby in this same year, when Holtby came to Yorkshire to give a lecture.
Friends, Associates Phyllis Bentley
The Bentley-Brittain friendship lasted throughout this year, interrupted by emotional quarrels. Their final falling out, some time after Brittain had stayed in Yorkshire with Bentley and her mother, is variously attributed to a blurb or...
Friends, Associates Evelyn Sharp
Their many shared friends included Vera Brittain , Winifred Holtby , and the writer and politician Mary Agnes Hamilton . In 1940 Hamilton took Harry Gill , president of the Railway Clerks' Association and a...
Friends, Associates E. M. Delafield
EMD had many literary friends, some of whom were associated with Time and Tide magazine, including Lady Rhondda, Winifred Holtby , L. A. G. Strong , A. B. Cox , Mary Agnes Hamilton , and...
Friends, Associates Margaret Haig Viscountess Rhondda
MHVR 's friends included novelist Elizabeth Robins , Theodora Bosanquet (spokesperson for British Federation of University Women and one-time secretary of Henry James ), MP Ellen Wilkinson (despite of their different stance on party politics)...
Friends, Associates Storm Jameson
SJ wrote to Vera Brittain (who had recently reviewed her), thereby initiating a close friendship which, however, was neither wholly relaxed nor in the long run lasting. Jameson and Winifred Holtby , both Yorkshirewomen, more...
Friends, Associates Doreen Wallace
DW 's close friendships with Winifred Holtby and Leon Geach lasted until their untimely deaths. But that with Dorothy Sayers ended in estrangement on religious and political grounds: the final straw was apparently DW 's...
Friends, Associates Stella Benson
This summer she spent a holiday at Varengeville in Normandy, with Naomi Mitchison . She also met Sydney Schiff (at Chesham in Buckinghamshire), and on 31 August 1925 had her first meeting with...
Friends, Associates Annie S. Swan
During the 1930s ASS became a friend and correspondent of Winifred Holtby . They exchanged copies of their books. After Holtby's early death a correspondence developed between ASS and Vera Brittain .
Swan, Annie S. The Letters of Annie S. Swan. Editor Nicoll, Mildred Robertson, Hodder and Stoughton, 1945.
164-5, 171, 249
Friends, Associates Una Marson
UM was delighted to meet Winifred Holtby , for whom she had great admiration, at a British Commonwealth League conference.
Jarrett-Macauley, Delia. The Life of Una Marson, 1905-65. Manchester University Press, 1998.
76

Timeline

1 December 1881: The Schoolmistress, devoted to the furtherance...

Writing climate item

1 December 1881

The Schoolmistress, devoted to the furtherance of female education, began weekly publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
10
Harrison, Royden et al. The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals, 1790-1970: A Check List. Harvester Press, 1977.
480

14 May 1920: Time and Tide began publication, offering...

Building item

14 May 1920

Time and Tide began publication, offering a feminist approach to literature, politics, and the arts: Naomi Mitchison called it the first avowedly feminist literary journal with any class, in some ways ahead of its time...

May 1922: Madeline Linford launched the Manchester...

Building item

May 1922

Madeline Linford launched the Manchester Guardian women's page, which she produced on her own, with no editorial assistant. It was temporarily suspended during the Second World War.
Stott, Mary. Forgetting’s No Excuse. Faber and Faber, 1973.
75
John, Angela V. Evelyn Sharp: Rebel Woman, 1869–1955. Manchester University Press, 2009.
144

September 1929: The Open Door, campaigning for the economic...

Building item

September 1929

The Open Door, campaigning for the economic emancipation of the woman worker, began publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
50
Harrison, Royden et al. The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals, 1790-1970: A Check List. Harvester Press, 1977.
385

1 October 1932: The British Union of Fascists was founded...

Building item

1 October 1932

The British Union of Fascists was founded by Sir Oswald Mosley .
Sir Oswald Mosley. http://www.oswaldmosley.com/.
Berry, Paul, and Mark Bostridge. Vera Brittain: A Life. Chatto and Windus, 1995.

4 September 1935: The Schoolmistress ceased publication when...

Building item

4 September 1935

The Schoolmistress ceased publication when it merged with Woman's Teacher's World.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
10
Harrison, Royden et al. The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals, 1790-1970: A Check List. Harvester Press, 1977.
480

November 1939: Open Door, a journal about women's employment,...

National or international item

November 1939

Open Door, a journal about women's employment, ended publication.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
50
Harrison, Royden et al. The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals, 1790-1970: A Check List. Harvester Press, 1977.
385

10 September 2003: Guardian Unlimited Books named as Site of...

Writing climate item

10 September 2003

Guardian Unlimited Books named as Site of the Week a website entitled Poetry Landmarks of Britain: a map of poetic assocations plotted on an interactive map of Britain, searchable by region or category.
“Poetry Society News: News Archive”. The Poetry Society, London.

Texts

Holtby, Winifred. Anderby Wold. John Lane, 1923.
Holtby, Winifred. “Foreword”. Pavements at Anderby, edited by Hilda Stewart Reid and Vera Brittain, Collins, 1937, pp. 9-11.
Cadogan, Mary, and Winifred Holtby. “Introduction”. Anderby Wold, Virago, 1981, p. ix - xix.
Hardisty, Claire, and Winifred Holtby. “Introduction”. The Crowded Street, Virago, 1981, p. ix - xiii.
Shaw, Marion, and Winifred Holtby. “Introduction”. Mandoa, Mandoa!, Virago, 1982, p. ix - xix.
Davidson, George, and Winifred Holtby. “Introduction”. Poor Caroline, Virago, 1985, p. xi - xvii.
Holtby, Winifred. Letters to a Friend. Editors Holtby, Alice and Jean McWilliam, Collins, 1937.
Holtby, Winifred. Mandoa! Mandoa!: A Comedy of Irrelevance. Collins, 1933.
Holtby, Winifred. Mandoa! Mandoa!: A Comedy of Irrelevance. Virago Press, 1982.
Holtby, Winifred. My Garden, and Other Poems. A. Brown, 1911.
Holtby, Winifred. Pavements at Anderby. Editors Reid, Hilda Stewart and Vera Brittain, Collins, 1937.
Holtby, Winifred. Poor Caroline. Jonathan Cape, 1931.
Holtby, Winifred, and George Davidson. Poor Caroline. Virago, 1985.
Holtby, Winifred. South Riding: An English Landscape. Collins, 1936.
Holtby, Winifred. South Riding: An English Landscape. Fontana/Collins, 1986.
Holtby, Winifred et al. Take Back Your Freedom. Editor Ginsbury, Norman, Jonathan Cape, 1939.
Brittain, Vera, and Winifred Holtby. Testament of a Generation. Editors Berry, Paul and Alan Bishop, Virago, 1985.
Holtby, Winifred. The Astonishing Island. Lovat Dickson, 1933.
Holtby, Winifred. The Crowded Street. John Lane, 1924.
Holtby, Winifred. The Crowded Street. Virago, 1981.
Holtby, Winifred. The Frozen Earth, and Other Poems. Collins, 1935.
Holtby, Winifred. The Land of Green Ginger. Jonathan Cape, 1927.
Holtby, Winifred. Truth Is Not Sober. W. Collins, 1934.
Holtby, Winifred. Virginia Woolf: A Critical Memoir. Wishart, 1932.
Holtby, Winifred. Women and a Changing Civilisation. John Lane, 1934.