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The Strategies of the Kensington Society in the Mid- Victorian Women's Movement

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The Strategies of the Kensington Society in the Mid- Victorian Women's Movement DISSENT, DISCUSSION AND DISSEMINATION: THE STRATEGIES OF THE KENSINGTON SOCIETY IN THE MID-VICTORIAN WOMEN’S MOVEMENT REBEKAH JULIA FAIRGRAY CURRER ORCID: 0000-0002-6276-3586 SUBMITTED IN TOTAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (ARTS) SCHOOL OF HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE FEBRUARY 2020 That from Discussion’s lip may fall What Life, that, working strongly, binds – Set in all lights by many minds, To close the interests of all. Lord Alfred Tennyson, Love Thou Thy Land, 1842, as quoted in the English Woman’s Journal, Vol. II, No. 9 (Nov. 1858) 159. ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the strategic communication of mid-nineteenth century British feminism through the activism and networking of the Kensington Society (1850-1890). Collectively and individually, the sixty-eight members of Britain’s first female-only discussion society practised a range of intellectual communication strategies to reform the position of women in society. In combining literary historical and communication approaches, it also aims to readdress the intellectual heritage of the Kensington Society, asking why it was established, and how it was utilised to spark a wider discussion on women’s rights in mid-nineteenth century Britain. To do so, the thesis investigates the political and religious dissenting heritage of the sixty-eight members; their English Woman’s Journal; discussion through private letters and publications, and their involvement in founding Britain’s first women’s tertiary college, Girton College, Cambridge. Through a historicist examination of the communication of the Kensington Society, it specifically examines the pivotal role the Society played in the individual reforms of its members, and the wider women’s movement of Victorian England. The first chapter argues that the Kensington Society was in debt to the ‘intellectual culture’ of their heritage. The second chapter examines the purpose behind their unified work in the earlier English Woman’s Journal, their initial attempt to enter the public press and the moderate success this allowed. The third chapter explores their subsequent decision to embrace the private realm open to them and establish a discussion society. To illustrate the fulfilment of this decision, the fourth and fifth chapters articulate the flexibility of intentions achieved, and the broad range of discursive communication traversed through nineteenth-century women’s activism. The final chapter considers the impact of the Kensington Society: women empowered by functional and informative discussion who utilised the skills and tools they learnt to bring about change in Victorian society. i DECLARATION This thesis comprises my own original work towards the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Arts). Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used. The thesis is fewer than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. R. J. Currer ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This effort is in no small way the legacy of my own intellectual heritage, as a daughter and granddaughter of historians whose examples have testified to the value of academic discussion. To my father, thank you for instilling in me a love of history and truth. To my mother, thank you for being my compass and wise counsel. I have always seen many similarities between you and the intrepid women of the Kensington Society. In all this, I am equally indebted to the standard set before me by my sisters - Johanna, Catherine, Susannah and Esther – treasured members of the Ebenezer Discussion Society. It is also a labour of gratitude to the Kensington Society women, the centrepiece of my tertiary history research. I have been inspired and rewarded by examining their lives and words over the past four years. I also wish to express my gratitude to the University of Melbourne for supporting my postgraduate study and Professor Andrew May, who has followed this undertaking faithfully from its beginning to its end; for the early advice of Professor Gillian Russell; and the final, invaluable assistance of Professor Deirdre Coleman. Thanks are also extended to the librarians and staff of Girton College at the University of Cambridge, and The Women’s Library, London School of Economics for their help during my research. Finally, I wish to thank my husband Rob, whose love and constant belief have been the anchor of this endeavour. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 RESEARCH QUESTION ........................................................................................................................ 5 CRITICAL SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF RELEVANT LITERATURE ...................................... 8 RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER I. AN INTELLECTUAL INHERITANCE IN DISSENT ................................................ 36 EVANGLICALISM, ANGLICALISM AND DISSENT ....................................................................... 41 UNITARIANISM AND DISSENT ........................................................................................................ 66 RATIONAL DISSENT AND PHILOSOPHIC RADICALISM ............................................................ 77 CHAPTER II. THE ENGLISH WOMAN’S JOURNAL ...................................................................... 85 A ‘RENOVATED PERIODICAL’ ........................................................................................................ 94 ‘AS SALT TO SOUP’ .......................................................................................................................... 104 ‘THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF THE JOURNAL’ ........................................................................... 116 CHAPTER III. ‘WHAT IS THE USE OF ALL THIS DISCUSSION?’ ............................................ 139 ‘TO STIR UP…THRO’ PRIVATE CHANNELS’ .............................................................................. 144 ‘PRACTICALLY EFFECTIVE’ .......................................................................................................... 156 SELF-EDUCATION ............................................................................................................................ 163 CHAPTER IV. THE KENSINGTON SOCIETY’S EPISTOLARY NETWORK: .......................... 172 ‘SISTERLY SALUTATIONS’ ............................................................................................................ 178 ‘YOUR MIND COULD HELP MINE’................................................................................................ 191 ‘CARPETS FOR THEM A MEETING PLACE’ ................................................................................ 205 CHAPTER V. WOMEN OF LETTERS: ‘PUBLICITY IS ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS’ .............. 214 ‘A SMALL NUMBER OF INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE’ ....................................................................... 228 ‘ALL POSSIBLE PUBLICITY’ .......................................................................................................... 233 ‘A USEFUL ELEMENT’ ..................................................................................................................... 251 CHAPTER VI. THE ‘TIDELIKE’ DIASPORA OF THE KENSINGTON SOCIETY ................... 267 EDUCATIONAL REFORM ................................................................................................................ 271 GIRTON COLLEGE ............................................................................................................................ 279 iv TRANSNATIONAL REFORM ........................................................................................................... 281 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 299 APPENDIX I ............................................................................................................................................ 307 APPENDIX II .......................................................................................................................................... 308 APPENDIX III ......................................................................................................................................... 310 APPENDIX IV ......................................................................................................................................... 314 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................... 315 v ABBREVIATIONS BC BEDFORD COLLEGE, LONDON. BFASS THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. BL THE BRITISH LIBRARY, LONDON. BNF BIBLIOTEQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE, PARIS. EWJ THE ENGLISH WOMAN’S JOURNAL. FMCES THE FEMALE MIDDLE CLASS EMIGRAITON SOCIETY. GC GIRTON COLLEGE, THE UNIVERISTY OF CAMBRIDGE. LAS THE LADIES ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLMISTRESSES. LSE THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. MWPC MARRIED WOMEN’S PROPERTY COMMITTEE. NAPSS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCES. NSWS THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE. ODNB OXFORD DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY. SPCK SOCIETY FOR
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