Barbara Bodichon

Barbara Bodichon, the daughter of Benjamin Leigh Smith and Anne Longden, was born in 1827. Her father, Benjamin Leigh Smith, came from a well-known radical family. Barbara's grandfather had worked closely in Parliament with William Wilberforce in his campaign against the slave-trade and had supported the French Revolution, whereas her great-grandfather had favoured the American colonists against the British government.

When Barbara was born her father was a forty-year old Radical MP Her mother, Anne Longden, was a seventeen-year old milliner who had been seduced by Benjamin Leigh Smith. The birth created a scandal because the couple did not marry. Anne remained his common-law wife until she died of tuberculosis when Barbara was only seven years old.

Benjamin Smith's home was also a meeting place for fellow radicals and political refugees. This gave Barbara the opportunity to meet and make friends with a wide-range of different people involved in politics.

Benjamin was an advocate of women's rights and treated Barbara the same way as her brothers. Barbara and her four brothers and sisters attended the local school where they were educated with working class children.

At the age of twenty-one, Benjamin Leigh Smith gave all his children £300 a year. It was extremely unusual for fathers to treat their daughters this way and it gave Barbara the chance to be independent of her family. Barbara used some of this money to establish her own progressive school in London.

Barbara selected Elizabeth Whitehead to be the school's headteacher. Before opening what later became known as the Portman Hall School, Barbara and Elizabeth made a special study of primary schools in London. It was decided to establish an experimental school that was undenominational, co-educational, and for children of different class backgrounds.

In 1851 Barbara read John Stuart Mill's article, the 'Enfranchisement of Women' in The Westminster Review. Although Barbara Bodichon agreed with votes for women she believed that at this time in history Parliament was not ready to pass the necessary legislation. The mood of the time is reflected by the fact that the article, Enfranchisement of Women, was written by Harriet Taylor, but to get it published, John Stuart Mill had to pretend he was the author.

In the 1850s Barbara concentrated on the campaign to remove women's legal disabilities. This included writing articles and organising petitions. Barbara gave evidence to a House of Commons committee looking into the legal position of married women. The committee deliberations resulted in the Matrimonial Causes Act that allowed divorce through the law courts instead of the slow and expensive business of a Private Act of Parliament. Barbara Bodichon was particularly pleased that this new act also protected the property rights of divorced women.

Barbara was very critical of a legal system that failed to protect the property and earnings of married women. In 1857 Barbara wrote Women and Work where she argued that a married women's dependence on her husband was degrading. As a young woman Barbara had fallen in love with John Chapman, the editor of The Westminster Review. Her views on the legal position of married women meant that she was unwilling to marry Chapman. However, after meeting Eugene Bodichon, Barbara decided to compromise her principals by marrying this former French army officer. Eugene Bodichon held radical political views and loyally supported Barbara in her many campaigns for women's rights.

In 1858 Barbara Bodichon and her friend, Bessie Rayner Parkes, founded the journal, The Englishwoman's Review. For the next few years the two women made their journal available to women campaigning for women doctors and the extension of opportunities for women in higher education.

Barbara Bodichon now decided the time was right to campaign for the franchise. 1866 Bodichon formed the first ever Women's Suffrage Committee. This group organised the women's suffrage petition, which John Stuart Mill presented to the House of Commons on their behalf.

Barbara Bodichon now toured the country where she held meetings on the subject of women's suffrage. Her speeches converted many women to the cause, including Lydia Becker, the future leader of the movement. Barbara also wrote and published a series of pamphlets on the subject of women's rights. Although her main efforts went into the women's suffrage campaign, Bodichon continued her work to improve women's education.

Barbara Bodichon joined with Emily Davies to raise funds for the first women's college in Cambridge. Girton College was opened in 1873 but women students at Girton were not admitted to full membership of the University of Cambridge until April 1948.

In 1877 Barbara Bodichon was taken seriously ill and although she recovered she was left paralysed. Although Barbara Bodichon retained her interest in women's rights, she was no longer able to take an active role in the movement. Barbara Bodichon remained an invalid until her death in 1891. In her will Barbara Bodichon left a large sum of money to Girton College, Cambridge.

Biographical Links

Emily Davies
Lydia Becker

Sources 9.2
9.4
9.5
9.9

Internet Links

Barbara Leigh Bodichon: Biography
http://www.girton.ac/html/Bodichon2.html

Girton College
http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk

Further Reading

Hester Burton, Barbara Bodichon, John Murray (1949)
Josephine Kamm, Rapiers and Battleaxes, Allen & Unwin (1966)
Lee Holcombe, Wives and Property, Martin Robertson (1983)
Marie Roberts (ed.), The Disempowered, Routledge (1995)
Marie Roberts (ed.), The Disenfranchised, Routledge (1995)
Barbara Stephen, Emily Davies and Girton College, Constable (1927)

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