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 Short Biographies of UVSOTA Authors Allen,
Grant
A Canadian author of nearly 30 novels and a popular science
writer. He went to England in the 1870s and published scientific
and evolutionary works inspired by Herbert Spencer. Allen was also
a professor of philosophy at Government College, Spanish Town, Jamaica
(1873-1876) a tutor at Oxford, and a staff member of the Daily News in
London. Selected Writings: Physiological Aesthetics
(1877); Colour Sense (1879); Evolutionist at Large (1881); Evolution
of the Idea of God (1897); Woman Who Did (1895)
Anderson, Elizabeth Garrett First fully accredited woman physician in Great Britain,
founder of the New Hospital for Women, suffragist, and advocate for
female education. Her desire to study medicine was rooted in her
feminist beliefs and what she saw as a useless life of
housewifery. She was a friend of both Barbara Leigh Smith and
Emily Davies and the sister of Millicent Garrett Fawcett. Selected Writings: Writer on medical topics for the Edinburgh
Review, British Medical Society, and the Times of
London. Caird, Alice Mona Writer of fiction and nonfiction, feminist, and anti-vivisectionist. Caird is especially remembered for her then controversial views on marriage and women's role in society. These themes pervade her writings, both fiction and nonfiction. See especially Morality of Marriage and Other Essays (1897). Selected Writings: Whom Nature Leadeth (1883); One
That Wins (1887); Wings of Azreal (1889); A Romance of
the Moors (1891); Daughters of Danaus (1894); Beyond the
Pale (1896); Morality of Marriage and Other Essays (1897);Romantic
Cities of Provence (1906); Stones of Sacrifice (1915)
Public speaker, composer, and writer of poetry and fiction. Supporter of women's suffrage and the temperance movement. Source: Obituary in Times (London), Feb. 17, 1923, 12:3. Feminist, labor economist, first woman fellow of University College, London. Collet's work and writings about the employment of women influenced government labor policy. Collet worked for the Labour Department and became a council member of the Royal Economic Society and the Royal Statistical Society after retirement. Selected Writings: Contributor to Life and Labour
of the People in London (1890); Educated Working Women
(1902); Women in Industry (1911); contributor to New Survey
of London, Life and Labour (1931)
Corelli trained as a musician early in her life, but then
became a novelist of popular romantic melodramas. Selected Writings: Romance of Two Worlds (1886); Thelma
(1887); Barabbas (1893); Sorrows of Satan (1895); Mighty
Atom (1896); Master Christian (1900); Temporal Power
(1902); Young Diana (1918); Secret Power (1921). Barrister. Selected Writings: History and Constitution of the
Courts and Legislative Authorities in India (1905); Hindu Law:
Being a Treatise on the Law Administered Exclusively to Hindus by The
British Courts in India (1870-1871).
Naturalist and inventor (along with Alfred Wallace) of the theory of evolution by way of natural selection. Darwin studied medicine in at Edinburgh University (1825-27) and began his study of biology at Cambridge. He participated in a scientific survey to South America in 1831-36, and the resulting publications solidified his reputation in the scientific community. After moving to Downey, Kent in 1842 he began the studies that led to his theory of natural selection, which was presented together with Wallace's research at the Linnaean Society in July 1858. Selected Writings: Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection (1859); Fertilization of Orchids (1862);
Variation of Plants and Animals under Domestication (1867); Descent
of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871); Expressions of
the Emotions in Man and Animals (1873); Different Forms of
Flowers in Plants of the Same Species (1877).
Popular and critically acclaimed English novelist whose writings vividly depict social relationships in Victorian England. His difficult childhood of poverty and child labor is reflected in much of his fiction (e.g. David Copperfield). In addition to his considerable output of fiction, Dickens was a family man and founder of the weekly Household Works. Selected Writings: Sketches by Boz (1833-36);
Pickwick Papers (1836); Oliver Twist (1837-39); Nicholas
Nickleby (1838-39); Old Curiosity Shop (1840-1841); Barnaby
Rudge (1841); Martin Chuzzlewit (1843); Christmas Tales
including A Christmas Carol (1843, 1846, 1848); David
Copperfield (1849-1850); Bleak House (1852--53); Child's
History of England (1854); Hard Times (1854); Little
Dorrit (1855-57); A Tale of Two Cities (1859); Great Expectations
(1860-61); Our Mutual Friend (1864-65); Mystery of Edwin Drood
(1858-70). Fawcett, Dame Millicent (Garrett) b. 1847 (Aldeburgh, England) - d. 1929 Millicent Garrett was born at Aldeburgh, Suffolk on 11 June 1847 and educated at a school at Blackheath. She was the daughter of a rich corn and coal merchant and the younger sister of of the feminist physician Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. Millicent Fawcett was a tireless leader in the struggle for women's suffrage, serving as president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies from 1897 to 1918. She died in London on 5 August 1929. Web: http://library.lib.mcmaster.ca/archives/findaids/fonds/f/fawcett.htm Source: The Biographical Dictionary of British Feminists (1985). English social novelist born in London. She married a
Unitarian minister and didn't begin to write until she was
middle-aged. Selected Writings: Sketches among the Poor
(1837); Mary Barton (1848); Cranford (1851); Ruth
(1855); North and South (1855); Life of Charlotte Brontë
(1857); Sylvia's Lovers (1863); Wives and Daughters
(1866). Gregory, Lady Isabella Augusta b. 1852 (Roxborough, Co. Galway, Ireland) - d. 1932 Playwright. Lady Gregory was a leading figure in the
Irish Revival. Along with W. B. Yeats she co-founded the the Irish
Literary Theatre. She collaborated with Yeats and J.M. Synge and
along with those figures brought about a revival of Irish culture and
mythology. Selected Writings: Spreading
the News (1904), The Gaol Gate (1906), The Rising of the
Moon (1907), and The Workhouse Ward (1908) Greg, W. R. (William Rathbone) Industrialist, prolific social, religious, and political
essayist. Greg was from a family of cotton-mill owners. He
wrote on a variety of subjects, including factory reform, philosophy of
science, and the position of women. His depiction of spinsters in
his essay "Why are Women Redundant?" drew the criticism of contemporary
feminists. Selected Writings: Enquirty into the State of the
Manufacturing Population (1831); Sketches in Greece and Turkey
(1833); Social Statistics of the Netherlands (1835); Past
and Present Efforts for the Extinction of the African Slave Trade
(1840); Creed of Christendom (1851); One Thing Needful (1855);Essays
on Political and Social Science (1855); Literary and Social
Judgments (1868); Enigmas of Life (1872); Rocks Ahead
(1874); Literary and Social Judgements (1868); Mistaken Aims
and Attainable Ideals of the Artizan Class (1876) When Higgs was young she won a scholarship to college and was
the first woman to take the Natural Science Tripos. After school
she became a teacher of natural science in the 1870s and 80s. She
gave up her teaching career when she married in 1891. After she
was married her interests shifted to the plight of homeless women.
She researched this by actually going out and living the life of a poor
woman looking for employment. After her husband's death in 1907
Higgs created a women's lodging house, encouraged the founding of the
National Association for Women's Lodging Houses, started a school for
mothers, and promoted social welfare programs. Selected Writings: Glimpses into the Abyss
(1906); Five Days & Nights as a Tramp (190?); How to
Deal with the Unemployed (1904); Mother Wareing (190?); Where
Shall She Live? (1910) ; Where Shall He Live? ; Octave
of Song (1917);Way to the Joyous Life (190?) Huxley, T(homas) H(enry) Surgeon, biologist, zoologist, supporter of Darwin although not full proponent of the theory of natural selection. Accomplished lecturer and writer of textbooks. Selected Writings: Evidence as to Man's Place in
Nature (1863); Lay Sermons (1870); Evolution and Ethics
(1893).
Physician and early feminist. The daughter of an
upper-class proctor, Jex-Blake had a repressive childhood and a stormy
relationship with her parents. She decided to attend classes at Queen's
college in 1858 against the wishes of her father, who eventually caved
in and gave his permission. She enjoyed the freedom and hard work
of collegiate life, and she was soon offered a tutorship in mathematics.
Later, after a tumultuous period in her life in which she returned home
to Hastings, she returned to school in Edinburgh to take medical
classes. Eventually, her quest to become a doctor led her to
Dublin and then London, where she joined up with Elizabeth Garrett
Anderson in attempting to start a medical college for women. The
two had a personality clash, and Jex-Blake returned to Edinburgh, where
she started a successful medical practice of her own. Selected Writings: Medical Women (1886) Physician, writer of novels and nonfiction (science).
Kenealy was educated at the London School of Medicine for Women.
She practiced medicine in London and Watford before turning to writing
after suffering from a severe case of diphtheria. Selected Writings: Dr. Janet of Harley Street
(1893); Molly and her Man of War (1893); Mother's Manual
(1905); Beauty through Hygiene (1905); Failure of Vivisection
and the Future of Medical Research (1909); Feminism and
Sex-Education (1920); Mating of Anthea (1911).
Lankester, E. Ray Disciple of Darwin, naturalist, scientist, teacher, director
of the British Museum, and professor at the University of London and
Oxford. Lankester did important work in the fields of embryology
and proto-zoology.
Anti-feminist writer, novelist and one of the first
professional women journalists. Linton published more than 200
articles in periodicals of her day, such as the Cornhill Magazine,
the Athenaeum, and the Saturday Review. Early in
Linton's life, she rebelled against her conservative parents by moving
to London in 1845 and becoming an independent young woman writer.
She wrote for numerous publications, including Charles Dickens' Household Words. Her early
works portray strong, independent women, attack double sexual standards,
advocate more relaxed divorce laws, and advocate women gaining entry
into careers that were traditionally the realm of men. Her later
works, including "The Higher Education of Women" (1886), argue against
the over-education of women. She also attacks unfeminine behavior
and the feminists of the 1890s and 1900s, calling them the "shrieking
sisterhood." Selected Writings: Autobiography of Christopher
Kirkland (1845);Amymone: A Romance of the Days of Pericles (1848);Azeth
the Egyptian (1848); Grasp Your Nettle (1865); Lizzie
Lorton of Greygrigg (1866); Patricia Kemball (1874); Atonement
of Leam Dundas (1876); Under Which Lord (1879); Girl of
the Period (1883); Patricia Kemaball (1874); Rebel of the
Family (1880); Autobiography of Christopher Kirkland (1885); My
Literary Life (1899). Low, Frances Helena Writer on various topics. Source: The Wellesley index to Victorian periodicals, 1824-1900 (1966-1989). Macaulay (of Rothley), Thomas
Babington Lawyer and writer educated at Trinity College, Cambridge;
Member of Parliament and legal advisor to the Supreme Council of India
(1834-38). Macaulay was the son of an anti-slavery
campaigner. After making a reputation for himself with his writing
for the Edinburgh Review, he embarked on a career in politics. He
became part of the British government in India, and spent several years
there. Later on in his life he became a writer of history. Selected Writings: frequent contributor to the Edinburgh
Review; History of England from the Accession of James II
(1848-61).
Maudsley, Henry Born in Giggleswick, Yorkshire, Maudsley was a psychiatrist
who argued for the physiological foundations of mental illness and also
spoke of the importance of dreams. Maudsley was a physician for
the Manchester Asylum and a professor of medical jurisprudence at
University College from 1869-1879. Selected Writings: Physiology and Pathology of the
Mind (1867); Physiology of Mind (1867); Pathology of Mind
(1879); Body and Mind (1870); Body and Will (1883) First British woman to earn a bachelor of law from the University of London, but was excluded from the English bar because of her gender. Worked as a conveyancer and in the government in the area of women's labor. She edited the Women's Gazette and Weekly News from 1889 through 1991. Selected Writings: Lady Fry of Darlington
(1898); The Employment of Women (1893).
Sister of Lord Leighton; biographer of Robert Browning. Selected Writings: The Life and Letters of Robert Browning
(1891)
Physician and author. Selected Writings: Present Evolution of Man
(1896); Alcoholism: a Study in Heredity (1901); Prevention of
Venereal Diseases (1920).
Smith, Sydney Clergyman, tutor, essayist on a wide variety of topics, and
editor of and contributor to the Edinburgh
Review. Later he became a popular preacher and lecturer in
moral philosophy. Selected Writings: Elementary Sketches of Moral
Philosophy (1849); A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith (
1855); The Wit and Wisdom of the Rev. Sydney Smith (1856). Wells, H[erbert]. G[eorge]. Early science fiction writer and novelist, engaged by the potential of science and education, idealist proponent of socialism, feminism, and student of T. H. Huxley. Selected Writings: Time Machine (1895); Island
of Dr. Moreau (1896); Invisible Man (1897); War of the
Worlds (1898); First Men in the Moon (1901); Men Like
Gods (1923);Love and Mr. Lewisham (1900); Kipps
(1905); History of Mr. Polly (1910); Mr. Britling Sees It
Through (1916); World of William Clissold (1916); Shape
of Things to Come (1933). Our URL is: http://etrc.lib.umn.edu/uvsota/index.htm. Please send comments to: Laura Dale Bischof, Librarian for West European History, German & Dutch Language & Literature. Voice: (612) 626-8026, bisch004@umn.edu Last update: 6.26.03 The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. © 2002 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota |