Research Guides: ENGL 4320/ 5323- The Romantic Period & Studies in Romanticism: Timeline

British Women's History Timeline 1880-1900

1880

Bill giving greater protection to little girls under 13

1880

Burials Bill gives women the right to conduct funeral services.

1880

Charter of Royal University of Ireland admits women as members.

1880

First suffrage demonstration, in Manchester. Followed by demos in other towns.

1880

First three women to graduate in Britain were Elizabeth Creak, Marianne Andrews and Elizabeth Hills.

1880

Mason College founded in Birmingham.

1880

Mrs James Brander appointed Inspector of Schools in Madras.

1881

Cambridge University admits women to Tripos Examinations.

1881

Civil Service appoints female clerks by open competition.

1881

Durham University votes to admit women.

1881

Isle of Man gives the vote to 700 women property owners

1881

Married Women's Property Act for Scotland.

1881

Poor Law Guardians Association for Promoting the Return of ladies founded; seven ladies elected in London.

1882

Married Women's Property Act passed. No difference between femme sole and femme couverte. A married woman having separate property was liable for the support of her parents, husband, children and grandchildren becoming chargeable to any union or parish.

1882

Municipal Franchise Act for Scotland allows women to vote in local elections .

1882

Florence Pomeroy, Viscountess Harberton, president of the Rational Dress movement, introduced her invention of the divided skirt to the Natioanl Health Society.

1883

Conference of Liberal Associations in Leeds votes for women's suffrage.

1883

First government appointment of a medical woman when Miss E. Shove appointed physician to the female staff of the Post Office.

1883

First women elected as Poor Law Managers in Scotland (by now 26 in England).

1883

Memorial to Gladstone for women's suffrage signed by 100 liberal MPs.

1883

Mr Stansfeld's resolution against the CD Acts passed in the House of Commons.

1883

University of Wales resolved to admit women.

1883

Suspension of the CD Acts.

1883

J.H. published The wonders of the female world, or a general history of women.

1883

Hugh Mason proposed a motion for women's suffrage and was defeated (114 for; 130 against).

1883

The Women�s Co-operative Guild is established. Supports women's suffrage, advocates Maternity Insurance Benefit, organises education classes for women.

1884

The Northern Counties Amalgamated Association of Weavers was established for male and female workers.

1884

Widow Sophie Bryant became the first woman to receive a Doctora of Science degree, receiving hers in Mathematical and Natural Sciences at London University..

1884

Custody of Infants' Bill passed its second reading by 134

1884

First woman to gain a M.A. degree: Mary Clara Dawes, A Girton student.

1884

Mrs Bryant first woman to be awarded BSc degree, at London University.

1884

Reform Act extended the vote to most adult men.

1884

Royal Irish University confers B.A. degrees on nine women students.

1885

Criminal Law Amendment Act raised the age of consent to 16, deemed sexual assault on girls under 13 as felonies and aged 13 to 16 as misdemeanours.

1885

Hospital for Women opened in Edinburgh, all doctors women.

1885

Miss Mason appointed Poor Law Inspector of Boarding Out.

1885

Primrose League, Ladies Executive Committee founded.

1885

Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland, admits women to diplomas.

1885

Three women appointed to the Metropolitan Asylums Board.

1885

Vigilance Association founded.

1885

W.T. Stead published the Maiden Tribute to Modern Babylon, exposing the prevalence of child prostitution.

1886

CD Acts repealed.

1886

Conference of Women's Liberal Associations.

1886

Conjoint Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Scotland opened Triple Qualification to women (medicine, surgery and midwifery).

1886

Guardianship of Infants Act. A mother could from now be legal guardian of her own children after her husband's death.

1886

Holloway College for Women opened.

1886

University Women's Club founded.

1886

Married Women's Maintenance Act. A woman entitled to maintenance after her husband's desertion.

1886

First woman dental surgeon to practice in England was an American, Dr Olgavon Oertzen.

1886

Three deaconesses ordained by the Bishop of London.

1886

Women's Disabilities Bill passed second reading.

1887

Leith Hospital in Scotland opened to women students.

1887

Miss Agnata Ramsay awarded a First in Classics at Cambridge, causing huge publicity nation-wide. (She married the master of Trinity, Montague Butler.)

1887

Mrs Power Lalor appointed Inspector of Lace in Ireland.

1887

Municipal Franchise for women in Belfast passed.

1887

National Dental Hospital opened to women students.

1887

University Club for Women founded.

1887

Women's Liberal Federation formed.

1888

Frances Power Cobbe published The Duties of Women (a course of lectures). 8th American edition.

1888

Emily Pfeiffer published Women and Work.

1888

Publication of The Law in Relation to Women by A Lawyer (i.e. Anon.).

1888

65 female Poor Law Guardians elected.

1888

Local Government Electors Act gave women the vote for county councils.

1888

Women's Liberal Unionist Association formed.

1888

Strike of 700 women matchmakers, led by Annie Besant.

1888

The Trades Unions' Congress resolves equal pay for equal work.

1888

Mrs Edward Butler became the first female motorcyclist.

1888

Correspondence on the theme Is Marriage a Failure? drew 27,000 letters to the Daily Telegraph.

1889

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children founded.

1889

Women's Franchise League founded.

1889

Suffrage rally in London on 21st June attended by 300,000 people.

1889

Women's Enfranchisement Bill failed.

1889

Chrystal Macmillan became the first woman to address the House of Lords when she pleaded in person Scottish women graduiates' claim to the parliamentary vote. (Sixteen years later she was called to the Bar.).

1889

'A lady' was appointed rate collector at Pirbright.

1890

The first woman stockbroker: Miss Bell, of Bucklesbury, City of London.

1890

Over 685,000 women are eligible to vote in local elections in England and Wales.

1890

Phillipa Fawcett, a Newnham student, was placed above Senior Wrangler in the Cambridge mathematics tripos, yet the university withheld degrees from women.

1890

Clementina Black wrote the pamphlet On Marriage, which explained why some women were unwilling to get married.

1891

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence wrote My Part in a Changing World, which is about her experiences as a social worker in a working class area of London.

1891

Regina v. Jackson, aka the Clitheroe Case. A man may no longer imprison his wife to enforce his conjugal rights.

1891

First edition of The Women's Penny Paper, the first weekly feminist newspaper. Edited by Lady Henry Somerset and published by Anne E. Holdsworth. Survives 3 years. They also later publish The Woman's Signal and The Woman's Herald.

1892

Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and Aberdeen admit women to membership and degrees.

1892

Ethel Mary Charles became the first woman professionally qualified architect and first female member of RIBA.

1892

Joseph Bridges Matthews published A Manual of the Law Relating to Married Women.

1892

The British Medical Association accepted female members.

1892

Emily Massingberd founded the Pioneer Club for women of advanced views. By 1894 its membership had grown to 500

1892

Women's Suffrage Bill failed.

1893

Baroness Coutts published Womans' Mission, a Series of Congress Papers on the Philanthropic Work of Women.

1893

M. Ostrogorski published The Rights of Women: a Comparative Study in History and Legislation. (Translated from French.)

1893

First woman factory inspector appointed.

1893

School leaving age raised from ten to 14

1893

Ladies' Golf Union founded.

1893

Maria Ogilvie gained a D.Sc at London University, becoming the first woman doctor of science.

1894

Edward Carpenter published Woman and her Place in a Free Society: Sex, Love, and its Place in a Free Society, Marriage in a Free Society (three short essays).

1894

Blanche Alethea Crackanthorpe published The Revolt of the Daughters (an article).

1894

Sarah Grand published The New Aspect of the Woman Question (an article).

1894

Local Government Act abolished the 5 property qualification for Poor Law guardians, making hundreds more women eligible to stand for election.

1894

Emmeline Pankhurst elected as a Poor Law Guardian in Manchester and Charlotte Despard elected in London.

1895

Three women served on the Royal Commission on Secondary Education.

1895

The Summary Jurisdiction (Married Women) Act (about separation orders).

1895

Edith Lanchester forced into a lunatic asylum for intending to live with her boyfriend.

1895

First woman in Britain to qualify as a dental surgeon: Dr Lilian Murray (later, Lindsay). Qualified LDS at Edinburgh.

1895

Alice Gordon reported that of 1,486 women who had a university education only 208 had married and 680 were teachers.

1896

Georgiana Hill published Women in English Life, from Medieval to Modern Times.

1896

Lina Eckenstein published Woman under Monasticism. Chapters on Saint Lore and Convent Life between A.D.500 and A.D.1500.

1896

Women's suffrage petition of 257,000 signatures presented to parliament.

1896

Union of Practical Suffragists formed within the Women's Liberal Federation.

1897

National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was founded. Motto: Faith, perseverance, patience.

1897

Over 729,000 women now eligible to vote in local elections in England and Wales.

1897

Ferdinand Faithfull Begg MP introduced a Woman Suffrage Bill supported by a petition of 257,796 signatures. It reached a second reading then was defeated by 230 to 159 votes.

1897

First woman car driver and car owner: actress Minnie Palmer.

1898

Correspondence on the theme Should Wives Work? drew 2,000 letters to the Daily Telegraph.

1898

Rational Dress League and its journal, Rational Dress Gazette founded. Lady Harberton a leading light.

1898

Hautboy Hotel in Ockham refused to serve Lady Harberton owing to her wearing her cycling outfit - knickerbockers.

1898

Nora Philips et al published A Dictionary of Employments Open to Women.

1899

International Congress of Women held in London.

1899

Regina vs Clarence: a husband cannot be found guilty of rape even if he is suffering from VD.

British Women's History Timeline 1800-1864

1801

Census reveals that women outnumber men by 400,000 (surplus of unmarried women).

1803

Mary Hays published Female Biography.

1803

Methodist conference bans women from preaching.

1804

First woman jockey to compete in a horse race: Alicia Meynell (age 22), riding Colonel Thornton's 20 year-old-horse horse Vingarillo against one other competitor over four miles at York. She rode side-saddle, and lost.

1809

An anonymous woman in Leominster became the last one in England to be ducked as a common scold.

1810

Lucy Aikin published Epistles on Women, exemplifying their Character and Condition at Various Ages.

1811

Female lace workers combined to raise wages at Loughborough.

1814

Elizabeth Hamilton published Letters addressed to the Daughter of a Nobleman, on the Formation of Religious and Moral Principle. 3rd edition.

1821

Harriet Martineau published Female Writers on Practical Divinity (under a male pseudonym).

1822

Miss Sarah Berry appointed by the Dean of Wells as Registrar of the Consistorial Diaconal Court of Wells.

1823

John Stuart Mill jailed for distributing pamphlets on birth control.

1824

Hannah More published Essays on Various Subjects, Principally Designed for Young Ladies.

1824

Mrs Taylor of Ongar published Maternal Solicitude for a Daughter's best Interests. 11th edition.

1825

Anna Wheeler/William Thompson published Appeal of One Half of the Human Race, Women, against the Pretentions of the Other half, Men, to retain them in political and thence in civil and domestic slavery.

1826

'S.E.' wrote an impassioned letter to the Liverpool Mercury on the Condition of Women in Society.

1826

Mrs B. published Women as Professionals.

1831

Mr Hunt MP presented Mary Smith's petition for votes for women to the House of Commons.

1832

Reform Act increased number of voters from 435,000 to 650,000 (of a total population of 14 million). Banned women from voting. Until 1832 duly qualified women landowners could vote for MPs.

1832

1500 women card-setters at Peep Green Yorkshire came out on strike for equal pay.

1833

Mrs John Sandford published Woman in her Social and Domestic Character, 3rd edition.

1834

New Poor Law assumed all women dependent on men. All illegitimate children to be the sole responsibility of the mother until they reached 16.

1834

'M.B.' writes an extraordinary (for its time) piece about women in the Ladies' Cabinet of Fashion, Music and Romance

1837

William IV died, succeeded by niece, Princess Victoria.

1837

Harriet Martineau published Society in America.

1838

Harriet Martineau published How to Observe; Morals and Manners.

1838

Sarah Ellis published The Women of England, Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits.

1838

R. Mence Esq. published The Mutual Rights of Husband and Wife, with a Draft of a Bill to replace that of Mr Sergt. Talfourd.

1839

Child Custody Act enabled a mother to be given custody of children under seven.

1839

Sarah Lewis published Women's Mission.

1840

Harriet Martineau published Women's Rights and Duties, considered with Relation to their Influence on Society and on her Condition.(Anon.)

1840

Judge upholds a man's right to lock up his wife and beat her 'in moderation'.

1840

Sydney Owenson Morgan published Woman and her Master, 2 volumes.

1840

World Anti-Slavery Convention held in London. Accredited female delegates from the USA excluded from taking part on grounds of their sex.

1841

Governesses' Benevolent Institution founded.

1841

Mother Marian Rebecca Hughes of Oxford became the first woman to take the religious vows in the Church of England since the Reformation.

1841

Lady Rolle became the first woman governor of Bridewell and Bethlem Royal Hospitals.

1841

Mrs John Mylne published Woman and Her Social Position in the Westminster Gazette.

1842

Ashley's Mines and Collieries Act. Women and children were excluded from the mines, as a result within two years 1,000 Staffordshire women had lost their jobs.

1842

Louis Aime-Martin published The Education of Mothers of Families; or, The Civilisation of the Human Race by Women.

1842

The Rev. Benjamin Parsons published The Mental and Moral Dignity of Woman.

1843

Association for the Aid of Milliners and Dressmakers founded.

1843

Marion Reid published (as Mrs Hugo Reid) A Plea for Woman, being a Vindication of the Importance and Extent of her Natural Sphere of Action.

1844

Factory Act (women and children).

1844

Ann Richelieu Lamb published Can Woman Regenerate Society?

1845

Margaret Fuller published Woman in the Nineteenth Century.

1846

Anna Jameson published 'Woman's Mission' and 'Woman's Position ' On the Relative Social Position of Mothers and Governesses.

1846

Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) published translation of Strauss's Das Leben Jesu (Life of Jesus).

1846

Eliza Lynn Linton, an anti-feminist (!) became the first salaried woman journalist in Britain, working for the Morning Chronicle.

1847

Ann Knight, an elderly Quaker, published the first leaflet that advocated votes for women .

1847 & 1850

Factory Acts (women and children restricted to 10 1/2 hour day).

1847

Chloroform first used in childbirth.

1848

First college for women founded by Rev. F.D. Maurice. Queen's College , Harley Street, London, established for governesses.

1848

Joseph Hume MP moved a resolution in parliament to give votes to women .

1849

Bedford College for Women founded.

1850

Emily Shirreff and Maria G. Grey published Thoughts on Self-Culture: Addressed to Women.

1850

S. Margaret Fuller published Woman in the Nineteenth Century.

1850

North London Collegiate School founded by Frances Buss.

1851

Mrs J.S. Mill (nee Harriet Taylor) published The Enfranchisement of Women in the Westminster Review.

1851

Women's Suffrage Petition presented to the House of Lords.

1852

Anna Jameson published Legends of the Madonna, as presented in the fine arts.

1852

Florence Nightingale wrote the book Cassandra that highlights the problems of women�s entitlement to education - she decided not to publish the book.

1852

G.H. Lewes published The Lady Novelists.

1852

Publication of Man's Duties to Woman. (Anon.)

1852

Judge rules that a man may not force his wife to live with him.

1853

Margaretta Grey published A Lady Must Not Work.

1853

Aggravated Assaults Act passed, to increase penalties for wife beating.

1853

Queen Victoria given chloroform during childbirth.

1853

J.J.S. Wharton M.A. published An Expostion of the Laws relating to the Women of England, showing their Rights, Remedies and Responsibilities in every position in life.

1854

Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon published A Brief Summary in Plain Language of the Most Important Laws Concerning Women, together with a few Observations thereon.

1855

Mrs Henry Davies Pochin published (under pseudonym Justitia) The Right of Women to the Exercise of the Elective Franchise.

1855

George Eliot published Margaret Fuller and Mary Wollstonecraft.

1855

A woman was appointed as an overseer of the poor at Undermillbeck, Westmoreland.

1855

Stephen Fullom published The History of Woman, And her Connexion with Religion, Civilization, and Domestic Manners, from the earliest period (denounced by George Eliot).

1855

Mrs Jameson published Sisters of Charity, Catholic and Protestant, Abroad and at Home.

1856

Mrs Jameson published The Communion of Labour, a Second Lecture on the Social Employments of Women.

1856

Margaret Maria Brewster published Work, Plenty to Do and How to Do It. (Edinburgh.)

1856

Bessie Rayner Parkes published Remarks on the Education of Girls.

1856

Caroline Frances Cornwallis published The Property of Married Women.

1856

Emily Shirreff published Intellectual Education, and its influence on the Character and Happiness of Women.

1856

Petition for women to retain their property upon marriage was presented. Organised by Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon andBessie Rayner Parkes , its 26,000 signatories included Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Jane Carlyle (wife of Thomas), Harriet Martineau and Elizabeth Gaskell.

1857

Association for the Promotion of the Employment of Women established.

1857

Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon published Women and Work.

1857

Caroline Frances Cornwallis published Capabilities and Disabilities of Women.

1857

Elizabeth Strutt published The Feminine Soul, its Nature and Attributes.

1857

Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act passed, by which divorce and separation became available to women. Previously, each divorce needed a separate Act of Parliament.

1857

Ladies' Sanitary Association founded.

1857

Matrimonial Causes Act (legally separated wife given right to keep what she earns; man may divorce wife for adultery, whereas wife must prove adultery aggravated by cruelty or desertion).

1857

Englishwoman's Journal started by Bessie Rayner Parkes and Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon . It later became the Englishwoman's Review.

1858

The first swimming bath for ladies was opened, at Marylebone.

1858

Henry Thomas Buckle published The Influence of Women on the Progress of Knowledge, a Discourse delivered to the Royal Institution, 19th March 1858. (Pub. Leipzig.)

1859

Harriet Martineau published Female Industry.

1859

Isaac Reeve published The Intellect of Woman not Naturally Inferior to that of Man. 3rd edition.

1859

Society for the Employment of Women founded.

1859

The North East Lancashire Amalgamated Society was formed and accepted male and female mill workers.

1860

First admission of women students to the Royal Academy (Miss Herford).

1860

Institution for the Employment of Needlewomen founded.

1860

Law copying office for women opened.

1860

Victoria Printing Press established.

1861

My Life and What Shall I Do With It? a Question for Young Gentlewomen, by an Old Maid (Miss March Phillips.)

1861

Offences Against the Person Act reduced the penalty for abortion from execution to life imprisonment.

1861

Lectures in physiology opened to ladies at University College.

1861

Offences Against the Persons Act made abortion a statutory offence. It confirmed the age of consent as 12, and made carnal knowledge of a girl under ten a felony and of a girl ten to twelve a misdemeanour.

1862

First voyage of Miss Rye to Australia; start of her system of emigration.

1862

Ladies Negro Emancipation Society founded.

1862

New Church Order of Deaconesses founded.

1862

Social Science Congress in London; many women took part.

1863

Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon published Of those who are the property of others, and of the great power that holds others as property.

1863

Queen's Institute founded in Dublin, for the industrial training of women.

1864

First Contagious Diseases Act passed (women living in certain garrison towns liable to be declared prostitutes and forcibly examined for venereal disease).

1864

Female Medical and Obstetrical Society founded.

1864

Working Women's College founded at Queen's Square.

1864

Alexandra Magazine published for four monthly editions.