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.

The meeting will take place at Francis Holland School, 39 Graham Terrace, London SW1W 8JF. Doors open at 12.45 – do bring a packed lunch to eat before the talk starts at 2.00 pm. Tea and coffee will be available afterwards and contributions of cake, etc, to go with these are very welcome!

All are welcome, both members and non-members. We ask for a £5 donation to cover our expenses.