Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon was one of the most intriguing of Victorian heroines: unconventional, illegitimate, yet at the centre of a luminous circle of influential Victorians, including Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot, Florence Nightingale, the Rossettis and Gertrude Jekyll. She was someone who opened many of the doors we walk through today with barely a backward glance: Barbara founded the first university college for women; the first women’s suffrage society, and the campaign to allow women to keep their own property after marriage. Look in the engine-room of every aspect of social change in Victorian Britain, and you’ll find Barbara. Loving and beloved, Barbara was inspiring and remarkably modern: a role model for our times – and huge fun.
Jane Robinson is an acclaimed social historian, focusing on women pioneers. She has written thirteen major books, including Hearts and Minds, looking at the hidden history of the fight for the vote; Bluestockings, the story of the first women to access higher education in Britain, and biographies of Mary Seacole and Josephine Butler. Jane is a Fellow of both the Royal Historical and Royal Geographical Societies, a Hawthornden Fellow, a writing mentor, and a Senior Associate of Somerville College.
We’ll leave the talk online for you to view until 30 June 2025. Use the link below to book your place. Your ticket will contain the link and password you’ll need to view the talk.
