One cannot create a section on "Victorian People" without taking a moment to acknowledge the many amazing contributions and achievements of Victorian women. While the women listed below are also included in the relevant topical pages in this section (e.g., poets, scientists, etc.), I wanted to create a special page that presents the "big picture" of what Victorian women were accomplishing. But as this list could go on and on and on, I've only included here those women who aren't listed on gender-specific pages elsewhere in this section (see the bottom of this page for a full list of women's pages). I have also tried to avoid duplication, which can lead to a bit of under-representation, because many of the women listed here and on the other pages were achievers in more than one category. Hence, for example, Kate Marsden (who is listed on the "lady travelers" page) could easily be listed under travelers, nonfiction writers, philanthropists, and possibly even medical professionals.

Artists, Illustrators & Photographers

Bashkirtseff, Marie

Two Views of Marie Bashkirtseff (Century Magazine, 1890B)

A Ukrainian diarest, painter and sculptor who lived much of her life in Paris and was perhaps best known (and reviled) for her views against marriage.

Bonheur, Rosa

Rosa Bonheur, by Henry Bacon (Century Magazine, 1884B)

Famous Women Artists (Windsor Magazine, 1897B)

Brickdale, Fortescue

A Girl Painter (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

Butler, Lady

Famous Women Artists (Windsor Magazine, 1897B)

Cameron, Beatrice

A Woman of Invention, by Sybil C. Mitford (Lady's Realm, 1901)

An artist in wood-burning and wood-enameling.

Charles, Lallie

Madame Garet-Charles, an Artist in Photography, by Anne MacKenzie (Windsor Magazine, 1897B)

Madame Lallie Charles's Portraits (Lady's Realm, 1901)

Cooper, Martha

Pictures on Fungi, by George Dollar (The Strand, 1900A)

New Hampshire artist Martha Cooper's amazing engravings on tree fungi.

Delany, Mary

Mrs. Delany's Flower-Work (The Strand, 1899B)

Remarkable hand-crafted paper flowers.

Demont-Breton, Virginie

A Painter of Motherhood, by Lee Bacon (Century Magazine, 1897A)

D'Istria, Dora

Dora D'Istria (Helen Ghika, the Princess Massalsky) (Scribners, 1879A)

Helen Ghika, the Wallachian Princess Massalsky. "As an authoress, philanthropist, traveler, artist, and one of the strongest advocates of freedom and liberty for the oppressed of both sexes, and of her suffering sisters especially, she is an honor to the time and to womanhood."

Edmonds, Catherine

A Chat with a Girl Photographer, by Frederick Crowest (Girl's Own Paper, 1901)

Greenaway, Kate

Kate Greenaway (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

Includes some charming and never-before-published illustrations.

Jopling, Miss

Miss Jopling [art teacher] (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

Massey, Mrs.

A Modern Miniaturist (Lady's Realm, 1901)

North, Marianne

A Lover of Nature (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

An artist who painted extensive collections of images of the plants of Kew Gardens.

Ronner, Henriette

The Cats of Henriette Ronner, by Thomas A. Janvier (Century Magazine, 1893B)

The delightful cat paintings of a Dutch artist living in Brussels.

Tunison, Fannie

The Remarkable Case of Miss Tunison (The Strand, 1900A)

An American quadriplegic who managed to earn a living by painting with her tongue.

Ward, Henrietta

Illustrated Interviews: "Royalties as Artists," by Ralph W. Maude (The Strand, 1898B)

An artist and art teacher whose pupils included many royals.

Welch, Lucy Kemp

A Woman Painter (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

Composers

Schumann, Clara

Clara Schumann, by La Mara (Girl's Own Paper, 1883)

The Queen of Pianists, by J. Cuthbert Hadden (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1888)

Frau Dr. Clara Schumann - A Short Sketch of Her Life, by the Countess A. von Bothmer (Girl's Own Paper, 1892)

Madame Schumann, by J.F. Rowbotham (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

Memorial tribute to Clara Schumann.

White, Mrs. Meadows

In Memoriam (Girl's Own Paper, 1885)

A composer who also wrote under the name of Alice Mary Smith.

Journalists & Nonfiction Writers

Austin, Sarah

Sarah Austin - A Modern Theodora, by Sylvia R. Hershey (Century Magazine, 1896A)

The wife of John Austin, "the greatest power in the whole history of English jurisprudence;" she was his editor and determined, on his death, to edit his works for the public.

Brightwell

How Mrs. Brightwell Writes for Magazines (Demorest, 1874)

This may refer to British writer Cecilia Lucy Brightwell.

Coleridge, Sara

Sara Coleridge (Demorest, 1879)

English author and translator.

Cowden-Clarke, Mary

Love-Serve: A Few Recollections Inspired by the Name of Mary Cowden-Clarke, by C.A. Macirone (Girl's Own Paper, 1889)

Noted author of a Shakespearian concordance.

Faithfull, Miss Emily

Miss Emily Faithfull (Demorest, 1873)

British author, lecturer and philanthropist. "She took a great interest in the conditions of working-women. With the object of extending their sphere of labour, which was then very limited, in 1860 she set up in London a printing establishment for women, called The Victoria Press." - Wikipedia

Hall, Mr. and Mrs. S.C.

Mr. and Mrs. S.C. Hall (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1883)

Memoirist S.C. Hall and his wife. Use the search box to locate articles by the Halls on this site.

Jameson, Anna

A Wreath on the Grave of the Late Anna Jameson (Argosy, 1881)

June, Jenny

Thirty Years in Journalism, by Jennie June (Demorest, 1886)

See also our collection of Jenny June's "Talks with Women".

King, Alice

Alice King, by Alice King (Demorest, 1885)

Use the search box to locate articles by Alice King on this site.

Alice King - Our Blind Contributor, by Alice King (Girl's Own Paper, 1887)

"At length came the, for me, happy days when that wonderful and beautiful machine, the type-writer, was brought to England from America." This enabled the writer to set down her own words rather than having to dictate to another - and Miss King was a prolific writer!

Martineau, Harriet

Harriet Martineau (Demorest, 1879)

British social theorist and Whig writer, often cited as the first female sociologist.

Harriet Martineau (Harper's Monthly, 1876B)

Tucker, Charlotte

"Life of A.L.O.E." by Agnes Giberne (book review) (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

Review of a biography of religious writer Charlotte Tucker.

Women Editors of Two Centuries (Demorest, 1879)

Medical Professionals

Bickerdyke, Mary

Mother [Mary] Bickerdyke , by Phyllis Browne (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

Union army nurse.

Nightingale, Florence

Florence Nightingale's Book (Godey's, 1860)

The Early Home of Florence Nightingale, by Edward Bradbury (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1885)

Lea Hurst in Derbyshire

Raymond, Aimee

Aimee Raymond, MD, by Emma Trapper (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)
Doctor and corresponding secretary for the Society for the Advancement of Women in Medicine.

Musicians

Davies, Fanny

Some Musical Performers, by Joseph Bennett (English Illustrated Magazine, 1892A)

A Chat with Miss Fanny Davies, by Baroness von Zedlitz (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1895)

Hallé, Lady

A Chat with Lady Hallé, by the Baroness von Zedlitz (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

Janotha, Natalie

The Diary of the Early Artistic Days of Natalie Janotha, by Her Mother (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

A musician who studied under Clara Schumann.

Mademoiselle Janotha and Her Cat (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

The musician's black cat was named "White Heather" (meaning good luck), but was also known as "The Marquis of Haddock," "Othello," and "Shajtan" (from someone whom he scratched).

Langley, Madame Beatrice

A Talk with Madame Beatrice Langley, by Charles Cathcart (Windsor, 1898A)

Purcell, Kathleen

Miss Kathleen Purcell, Solo Harpist, by K.M. Cordeux (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

Schumann, Clara - see "Composers"

Tua, Teresina

The New Violinist/Signorina Teresina Tua (Girl's Own Paper, 1880, 1884)

Two articles about violinist Teresina Tua (the first written when she was 13 years old).

Philanthropists

Burdett-Coutts, Baroness

Baroness Burdett-Coutts - Illustrated Interviews, by Mary Spencer-Warren (The Strand, 1894A)

Burdett-Coutts spent the majority of her wealth on scholarships, endowments, and a wide range of philanthropic causes. One of her earliest philanthropic acts was to co-found (with Charles Dickens) a home for young women who had "turned to a life of immorality," including theft and prostitution. The home was known as Urania Cottage. - Wikipedia

Gilbert, Bessie

Bessie Gilbert, by Alice King (Girl's Own Paper, 1892)

"This blind woman...determined that...blind men and women should be enabled to take a reasonable, active place in the community, and to live by the work of their own brains or hands."

Jones, Agnes

Agnes Jones (Girl's Own Paper, 1885)

According to Florence Nightingale, "This young lady in less than three years reduced one of the most disorderly workhouse populations to something like Christian discipline... She inspired 50 nurses and probationers with her own admirable spirit...she converted the Poor Law Board to her views...and won the hearts of the paupers."

More, Hannah

Some Memorials of Hannah More, by Rose Bourdillon (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

Educator, writer, reformer and abolitionist. "Everyone has heard how this gifted woman, having moved conspicuously in the best and most intellectual London society during the middle of the last century, gave up her life henceforth to bettering the condition, physical and moral, of the people in the villages round about Wrington."

Ramabai Sarasvati, Pundita

Pundita Ramabai Sarasvati, by Emily J. Bryant (Century Magazine, 1887B)

Pundita Ramabai, by Elizabeth Porter Gould (Century Magazine, 1890A)

A Hindu woman who founded a school for women and girls in Bombay.

Walther, Madame Andre

A Beautiful Old Lady (Girl's Own Paper, 1889)

In memory of a charitable French noblewoman.

Gentlewomen Who Devote Their Lives to the Poor (Girl's Own Paper, 1898)

Lady Louisa Ashburton; The Misses Skinner, friends to girls in business; Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, pioneer prison-visitor; Mrs. Starey, assistant to the blind; Baroness Burdett-Coutts; Miss MacPherson.

Poets

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett & Robert

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, by Mrs. Lizzie Lewis (Demorest, 1879)

Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, by Anne Thackeray Ritchie (Harper's Monthly, 1892A)

Cary, Alice & Phoebe

Memoirs of Alice and Phoebe Cary (Demorest, 1873)

Of particular interest is poet Alice Cary's address, on the second page, regarding the reasons for establishing a "women's club."

Dutt, Toru

Toru Dutt (Century Magazine, 1884A)

A Hindu girl in Calcutta (who died at age 21) who published many original poems in English and was particularly known for her English translations of French poetry.

Havergal, Frances Ridley

Frances Ridley Havergal, by Alice King (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

Writer and poetess (and author of many Victorian greeting card verses).

Heusser, Meta

A Swiss Poetess, by the Rev. John Kelly (Girl's Own Paper, 1886)

"Meta Heusser...is regarded as quite the foremost among the German speaking writers of sacred poetry of her time."

Jackson, Helen

Mrs. Helen Jackson ("H.H.") (Century Magazine, 1886A)

Lazarus, Emma

Emma Lazarus (Century Magazine, 1888B)

Procter, Adelaide Anne

Adelaide Anne Proctor, by Charles Dickens (Atlantic Monthly, 1865)

Adelaide Anne Proctor (Demorest, 1879)

Rossetti, Christina

Christina Rossetti, by Edmund Gosse (Century Magazine, 1893B)

Christina Rossetti: An Appreciation, by Isabella Fyvie Mayo (Girl's Own Paper, 1898)

Women as Hymn Writers, and What They Have Done, by the Rev. T.B. Willson (Girl's Own Paper, 1885)

Two Pairs of Modern Poets, by Alexander Japp (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1895)

Lewis Morris, Austin Dobson, Jean Ingelow, and Christina Rossetti

Modern Women Songwriters, by Esther Palliser (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

Christmas Card Poets, by W.J. Wintle (Windsor, 1897B)

Politicians (American)

Carroll, Anna Ella

The Case of Miss Carroll, by S.E. Blackwell (Century Magazine, 1890B)

Efforts to provide a Union pension to Miss Carroll for her services during the war.

Dix, Dorothea

Dorothea Dix, by Mary S. Robinson (Century Magazine, 1893A)

Dorothea Lynde Dix was an American activist on behalf of the indigent insane who, through a vigorous program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, created the first generation of American mental asylums. During the Civil War, she served as a Superintendent of Army Nurses. - Wikipedia

Fuller, Margaret

Margaret Fuller Ossoli, by J.E. Runtz Rees (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

An American journalist and women's rights activist who died at sea in 1850.

Margaret Fuller, by Josephine Lazarus (Century Magazine, 1893A)

Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1810-1850), commonly known as Margaret Fuller, was an American journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement. She was the first full-time American female book reviewer in journalism. Her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century is considered the first major feminist work in the United States. - Wikipedia

Jacobi, Dr. Mary Putnam

The American Woman in Politics, by Eleonora Kinnicutt (Century Magazine, 1895A)

An advocate of women's suffrage.

Scientists, Scholars & Inventors

Clough, Anne

The First Principal of Newnham College, by Eugenia Skelding (Atlantic Monthly, 1893)

Newnham College was the second Cambridge college, after Girton, to admit women.

Germain, Sophie

Sophie Germain: An Unknown Mathematician, by Christine Ladd Franklin (Century Magazine, 1894B)

Marie-Sophie Germain (1776-1831) was a French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. One of the pioneers of elasticity theory, she won the grand prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences for her essay on the subject. Her work on Fermat's Last Theorem provided a foundation for mathematicians exploring the subject for hundreds of years after. - Wikipedia

Herschel, Caroline

A Devoted Sister: Caroline Herschel, by A. MacLeod Symington (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1879)

Sister to astronomer Sir William Herschel.

The Three Herschels, by Edward S. Holden (Century Magazine, 1885B)

Caroline Herschel: A True Tale of Sisterly Devotion, by A.M. Harley (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

A woman who achieved the rare honor of being elected an honorary member of the Astronomical Society.

Maria Mitchell's Reminiscences of the Herschels, by Maria Mitchell (Century Magazine, 1889B)

Reminiscences of a friend of the famous family of astronomers.

Kovalevsky, Sonia

Notable Women: Sonia Kovalevsky, by Isabel F. Hapgood (Century Magazine, 1895B)

Sofia Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya, born Sofia Vasilyevna Korvin-Krukovskaya (1850–1891), was a Russian mathematician who made noteworthy contributions to analysis, partial differential equations and mechanics. She was the first major Russian female mathematician and a pioneer for women in mathematics around the world. She was the first woman appointed to a full professorship in Northern Europe and was also one of the first women to work for a scientific journal as an editor. - Wikipedia

Mitchell, Maria

Maria Mitchell (astronomer), by Anna C. Brackett (Century Magazine, 1889B)

Maria Mitchell's Reminiscences of the Herschels, by Maria Mitchell (Century Magazine, 1889B)

Palmer, Alice Freema n

Alice Freeman Palmer, by Kate Upson Clark (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)
History professor and trustee of Wellesley University.

Pascal, Gilberte

A Sister of Saints, by Marion Libby (Century Magazine, 1893B)

Sister of Blaise Pascal, who was one of the inventors of the mechanical calculator and a follower of a Catholic sect known as Jansenism.

Somerville, Mary Fairfax

Mary Fairfax Somerville [Astronomer] (Godey's, 1873)

Scottish science writer and polymath, nominated to be jointly the first female member of the Royal Astronomical Society at the same time as Caroline Herschel.

Women and Girls as Inventors and Discoverers, by S.F.A. Caulfeild (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

More...

The Courage of Women, by W. Gilbert (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1875)

A Brave Little Girl (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

Esther Mary Cornish-Bowden, awarded a medal from the Royal Humane Society for rescuing her brother from a pond.

Courage of Women, by Lambton Young (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

Several female winners of the Royal Humane Society medals for heroic rescues.

Female Heroism, by Sylvia Thorne (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

Heroic women in history, including England's Grace Darling.

Two American Heroines, by J.E. Runtz Rees (Girl's Own Paper, 1881)

Maggie and Jessie Darling of Canada, rescuers of two drowning men.

A Gallery of Eccentric Women: The Ladies of Llangollen, by Nanette Mason (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, who fled from their families to live together in a cottage on Llangollen, Wales, where (for at least the latter part of their lives) they dressed as men.

A Gallery of Eccentric Women: Nine Odd Women, by Nanette Mason (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

"It is praiseworthy for a girl to have individuality, but not eccentricity, which is nothing but individuality run mad." This article includes the tale of a woman who would "dress in male attire, and go about captivating her sisters and marrying them," defrauding them of their money and clothes.

The Little Mother (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

Amanda Meunier, 12-year-old recipient of a gold medal from the French "La Societe pour l'encouragement de bien."

The Ladies of Llangollen, by Helen Marshall North (Century Magazine, 1897A)

Lady Eleanor Charlotte Butler and the Hon. Sarah Ponsonby built a cottage for themselves in North Wales, where they dressed as men and were considered a tad eccentric, but well loved.

Heroines, by Douglas J. Murdock (The Strand, 1897B)

Examples from the Women's Roll of Honour, exhibited at the Jubilee - a list of women who committed life-saving acts of courage.

The First Lady Barrister (Girl's Own Paper, 1901)

Short news item about Mlle. Chauvin, the first female barrister in France.

See also:

• Eminent Women: Roundups

• Fiction Writers & Novelists - Women

• Lady Travelers & Explorers

• Actresses, Dancers & Performers

• Singers

• Victorians with Disabilities

• Notable Women of History

• Royalty