Georgian Feminists 

We often think of the Georgian period as being a time of enlightenment and travel, of literature and learning, and for an elite few, this was indeed the case. For most of the society however, they were trapped in the rigid class system which bound them to remain on the rung of the social ladder they were born in to, never to be allowed to step up, but always at risk of slipping downwards, into the social abyss. Women were expected to marry, and the women who did not, were seen as strange social pariahs. Women were expected to stay at home and have children, and little else.  

There were many women unhappy with their lot. Georgian Feminists presents ten women who fought against this, carving their own way in a patriarchal unfair society. These women were writers, campaigners, mathematicians, scientists, and entrepreneurs, and really made such significant changes to make their worlds and society better because of their influence.  

Lady Sarah Pennington was forced out of her home by her unpleasant husband and was forcibly kept away from her children, who she loved very much. She missed her children so much, she wrote a book giving advice to young women, telling them how to navigate the complicated world of manners, marriage, and relationships around them. She had it published and dedicated it to her eldest daughter. She found a way to speak to her children, albeit indirectly.  

Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the founding feminists of her age, and many feminists since her have cited Wollstonecraft’s life and works as influences for their philosophies and views which is such a wonderful accolade for her to own. She was a writer and long-time advocate for women’s rights.   

She led an unconventional life, guided by her own sense of morality, and not only spoke up but took action against injustice wherever she saw it, and she saw it everywhere. Wollstonecraft was also the mother of the famous Gothic writer Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus and herself a magnificently headstrong woman in her own right. 

Dido Belle was another wonderful woman of the period. She was not extraordinary because she was mixed-race. A lot of children were born to black slave women in the 18th Century. It is not that her father was wealthy; plenty of titled British captains and entitled admirals tore around the Caribbean capturing French and Dutch ships and stealing their contents, whether it was sugar, tea, tobacco, or people. The amazing thing about her was that despite this inauspicious start in life, she used her intelligence and potential influence to bring about an end to the transatlantic trade in human life. She would be taken to England by her mother’s attacker and settled into a relatively comfortable life at the grand Kenwood House. She was not a servant but treated as a member of the family there.  

Jane Austen is arguably the most well-known and beloved English female author of her age, or possibly any period. A great deal of people who have not read Austen, dismiss her work and assume it is filled with posh ladies in silk playing piano forte and taking tea with other posh ladies, gossiping about their tediously closed off high-born world. There are moments of piano playing and indeed tea drinking, but her work is far from taking itself seriously or polite. Some think of Austen as twee, quaint, and frivolous but her writing is scathing and clever, poking fun at the very people she was acquainted with and dripping in cynicism and a dry sense of humour. She is best known for her wonderfully sarcastic tone of writing in her six published novels and her exploration into the values, etiquette, relationships, marriage, and money.  

Lady Hester Stanhope is very likely one of the most exciting and unique women, you have never heard of. She was a British adventurer, travelling around the Middle East and exploring places few Westerners had ever stepped foot, and is considered the first to use modern archaeological principles. She was a trailblazer and never conformed to society’s norms if she could help it. 

Elizabeth Fry is probably best known for her revolutionary work in reforming the appalling conditions of prisons in the early Nineteenth Century. She was also instrumental for bringing about the 1823 Gaol’s Act which separated male and female prisoners and promoted the employment of female guards in prisons which massively reduced sexual assault and rape amongst the female prisoners.  

Mary Fildes’ name is perhaps one that is less familiar.. She was not born into a wealthy family, nor did she marry a lord and live in a grand house. Her children did not inherit grand estates and have titles. She was an ordinary working-class woman who fought for what she believed was right, putting herself into mortal danger to do so. She was at the terrible bloodbath of the Peterloo Massacre.  

Anne Lister has in recent years shot to historical fame due to the book Gentleman Jack by Sally Wainwright and the subsequent spin off BBC tv series of the same name, starring the very talented Suranne Jones as Lister herself. The book and tv show have taken some minor liberties with the truth, but in many ways have been very faithful to real life events, people, and moments in her life. She was a writer, a landowner, and a lover. 

Although Mary Anning is now recognised as a pioneer of palaeontology and a leader of the science, she did not gain the recognition she so clearly deserved because of her sex and the time she was born in to. Her knowledge was sought by the men in her field, but then her name missed from their research papers after they were submitted. 

Ada Lovelace was born into the nobility and revolutionised the subject of mathematics, like no other had done before. Her legacy is seen all around us today, in the technology we rely on every moment of every day. She had a wonderfully scientific and mathematical mind and was the mother of computing as we know it.  

It is more important than ever to recognise the contribution that women have made across the centuries but sadly equality has still some way to go. It is vital that the significant impact of these women is not dismissed and minimised, but talked about and remembered.  

Georgian Feminists is available to order here.