Barbara Bodichon
Barbara Bodichon | |
---|---|
Born | Barbara Leigh Smith 8 April 1827 Whatlington, Sussex, England, United Kingdom |
Died | 11 June 1891 Robertsbridge, Sussex, England, United Kingdom | (aged 64)
Nationality | British |
Other names | Barbara Leigh Smith |
Occupation(s) | Educationalist Artist |
Known for | Co-founder, Girton College, Cambridge |
Spouse | Eugène Bodichon |
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (born Barbara Leigh Smith; 8 April 1827 – 11 June 1891) was an English
Family and upbringing
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2022) |
Barbara Leigh Smith was born on 8 April 1827, to Anne Longden, a milliner from
Benjamin Leigh Smith's home was in
Smith met Anne Longden while on a visit to his sister in Derbyshire. She became pregnant by him and he took her to the south of England, housing her in a rented lodge at Whatlington, near Battle, East Sussex, as "Mrs Leigh", the surname of Ben Smith's relations on the Isle of Wight. Barbara's birth caused scandal, as the couple did not marry. Smith rode from Brown's Farm to visit them daily, and in eight weeks Anne was pregnant again. When their son Ben was born, the four went to America for two years, during which another child was conceived.[4]
On their return to Sussex, they lived openly together at Brown's and had two more children. After the last was born in 1833, Anne fell ill with tuberculosis. Smith leased 9 Pelham Crescent, Hastings, which faced the sea, whose healthy properties were highly regarded at the time. A local woman, Hannah Walker, was employed to look after the children. Anne did not recover and so Smith took her to Ryde, Isle of Wight, where she died in 1834.[7]
Smith, unusually for the time, sent all his children to the local school to learn alongside working-class children,[8] rather than sending the older males to boarding or an elite day school. He later shared financial endowments equally with all the children, both male and female, giving each an income of £300 per annum from the age of majority (21).[9]
Adult life
Early in her life, Barbara showed a force of character and breadth of sympathies that would win her prominence among philanthropists and social workers. Independent income gave her a freedom not normally possessed by many women[9] and Bodichon and a group of London friends began to meet regularly in the 1850s to discuss women's rights, and became known as "The Ladies of Langham Place". This group became one of the first organised women's movements in Britain. They pursued many causes vigorously, including their Married Women's Property Committee. In 1854, she published Brief Summary of the Laws of England concerning Women,[10] which helped to promote the passage of the Married Women's Property Act 1882. During this period Bodichon became friends with the artist Anna Mary Howitt, for whom she sat on several occasions.[11]
Bodichon's first romantic relationship was with
In 1858, Bodichon set up the
In 1866, cooperating with Emily Davies, Bodichon produced a scheme to extend university education to women. The first small experiment in this, at Hitchin, developed into Girton College, Cambridge, to which Bodichon gave liberally of her time and money.[14]
In 1869, she wrote a Brief Summary in Plain Language of the Laws of England Concerning Women which helped pass Married Women's Property Act 1870.[3]
Bodichon was a Unitarian, who wrote of Theodore Parker: "He prayed to the Creator, the infinite Mother of us all (always using Mother instead of Father in this prayer). It was the prayer of all I ever heard in my life which was the truest to my individual soul."[15]
On 21 November 1865 Barbara Bodichon, helped by Jessie Boucherett and Helen Taylor, brought up the idea of a parliamentary reform aimed at achieving the right to vote for women.[16]
Despite all her public interests, Bodichon found time for society and her favourite art of painting. Bodichon studied under
Bodichon died at Robertsbridge, Sussex, on 11 June 1891.[14]
Education and activism
She was an English leader in the movements of education and political rights for women during the 1800s. Her marriage did not deter her from continuing her campaigns for women's rights to education.[19][20]
Bodichon studied at the
In 1852, after she had enrolled in Bedford College, she developed and opened Portman Hall School in Paddington, having researched practices at other primary schools,[8] in conjunction with its first head teacher, Elizabeth Whitehead.[3]
In 1854, Bodichon published the Brief Summary in Plain Language of the Most Important Laws Concerning Women, which was crucial in the passage of the Married Women's Property Act. In 1866, in collaboration with Emily Davies, she presented the idea of university education for women, being able to conduct the first experiment at a college in Hitchin, which developed into Girton College and of which Bodichon became a dedicated patron. She studied under the English artist William Henry Hunt to develop her skill in watercolours.[19][20]
Bodichon belonged to the
Grave
In 2007 Irene Baker and Lesley Abdela helped to restore Barbara Bodichon's grave in the churchyard of Brightling, East Sussex, about 50 miles (80 km) from London. It was in a state of disrepair, with railings rusted and breaking away and the tomb inscription scarcely legible.[22] The historian Dr Judith Rowbotham at Nottingham Trent University issued an appeal for funds to restore the grave and its surroundings, which raised about £1,000.[citation needed] The railings were sand-blasted and repainted and the granite tomb was cleaned.
Commemoration
On 30 June 2019, a Blue Plaque jointly commemorating the founders, Barbara Bodichon and Emily Davies, was unveiled at Girton College by Baroness Hale, President of the Supreme Court, as part of the college's 150th anniversary celebrations. The plaque is sited on the main tower at the entrance to Girton, off Huntingdon Road.[23]
See also
- History of feminism
- Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
- List of Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists
- English women painters from the early 19th century who exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art
- Sophie Gengembre Anderson
- Mary Baker
- Ann Charlotte Bartholomew
- Maria Bell
- Joanna Mary Boyce
- Margaret Sarah Carpenter
- Fanny Corbaux
- Rosa Corder
- Mary Ellen Edwards
- Harriet Gouldsmith
- Mary Harrison (artist)
- Jane Benham Hay
- Anna Mary Howitt
- Mary Moser
- Martha Darley Mutrie
- Ann Mary Newton
- Emily Mary Osborn
- Kate Perugini
- Louise Rayner
- Ellen Sharples
- Rolinda Sharples
- Rebecca Solomon
- Elizabeth Emma Soyer
- Isabelle de Steiger
- Henrietta Ward
References
- ^ "Bodichon: founder of the women's movement?". Law Gazette.
- ^ "Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon - National Portrait Gallery".
- ^ a b c "Bodichon, Barbara (1827–1891) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com.
- ^ ISSN 1475-3057.
- ^ "CARTER (afterwards BONHAM CARTER), John (1788-1838), of 19 High Street, Portsmouth, Hants and 16 Duke Street, Mdx".
- ^ Helena Wojtczak. "Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon: The Hastings Connections". Hastings Press. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
- ISBN 9780857527776.
- ^ a b "Barbara Bodichon". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- ^ a b c d Awcock, Hannah (29 December 2016). "Turbulent Londoners: Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, 1827-1891". Turbulent London. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- ^ "Barbara Leigh-Smith Bodichon, A Brief Summary of Laws Concerning Women, 1854". womhist.alexanderstreet.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2015.
- required.)
- ^ "Eugène Bodichon | Orlando".
- ^ "Married". Morning Post, Thursday 9 July 1857, p. 8, via British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Lingwood, 2008.
- ^ "Jessie Boucherett". Spartacus Educational.
- ^ Baile de Laperriere, Charles (1996). The Society of Women Artists Exhibitors 1855-1996. Hilmarton Manor Press. pp. 117, Volume 1.
- ISBN 0860684008.
- ^ a b "Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon." Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 July 1998. Web. 20 February 2017 [1].
- ^ a b "Bodichon, Barbara (1827–1891)." Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia.com. 23 February 2017 [2].
- ^ a b Whitney Chadwick, Women, Art, and Society, 5th edition. London: Thames & Hudson, Ltd, 2012.
- ^ "Campaigner's tomb appeal launched". 5 September 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Cambridge college unveils blue plaque for 'pioneering' women founders". BBC News. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- Attribution
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bodichon, Barbara Leigh Smith". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- Bodichon, Barbara (1972). An American Diary, 1857–1858. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0710073305.
- Burton, Hester (1949). Barbara Bodichon. London: John Murray. ASIN B0006D73UQ.
- Helsinger, Elizabeth K. (1983). The Woman Question; Social Issues, 1837–1883. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 0824092325.
- Herstein, Sheila R. (1985). A mid-Victorian feminist, Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03317-6.
- Hirsch, Pamela (1998). Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon: Feminist, Artist and Rebel. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 0-7011-6797-1.
- Lingwood, Stephen (2008). The Unitarian Life: Voices from the Past and Present. London: Lindsey Press. ISBN 978-0-85319-076-9.
- Marsh, Jan; Gerrish Nunn, Pamela (1998). Pre-Raphaelite Women Artists. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28104-1.
- Matthews, Jacquie. Barbara Bodichon: Integrity in diversity (1827–1891) in Spender, Dale (ed.), Feminist theorists: Three centuries of key women thinkers, Pantheon 1983, pp. 90–123 ISBN 0-394-53438-7
- Uglow, Jenny (1987). George Eliot. London: Virago Press. ISBN 0860684008.