Political Worlds of Women: Gender and Politics in Nineteenth Century Britain

269 Pages·2013·5.982 MB·English

by  Sarah Richardson

The Political Worlds of Women
Traditional analyses of nineteenth-century politics have assigned women a
peripheral role. By adopting a broader interpretation of political participa-
tion, the author identifi es how middle-class women were able to contribute
to political aff airs in the nineteenth century. Examining the contribution
that women made to British political life in the period 1800–1870 stimu-
lates debates about gender and politics, the nature of authority and the
defi nition of political culture.
This volume examines female engagement in both traditional and unconven-
tional political arenas, including female sociability, salons, child-rearing and
education, health, consumption, religious reform and nationalism. Richard-
son focuses on middle-class women’s social, cultural, intellectual and politi-
cal authority, as implemented by a range of public fi gures and lesser-known
campaigners. The activists discussed and their varying political, economic
and religious backgrounds will demonstrate the signifi cance of female inter-
ventions in shaping the political culture of the period and beyond.
Sarah Richardson is an Associate Professor of History at the University of
Warwick.
Routledge Research in Gender and History
1 The Women’s Movement and 8 Political Women
Women’s Employment in The Women’s Movement,
Nineteenth Century Britain Political Institutions, the Battle for
Ellen Jordan Women’s Suffrage and the ERA
Alana S. Jeydel
2 Gender, Sexuality and Colonial
Modernities 9 Women, Education, and Agency,
Edited by Antoinette Burton 1600–2000
Edited by Jean Spence,
3 Women’s Suffrage in the British Sarah Jane Aiston
Empire and Maureen M. Meikle
Citizenship, Nation and Race
Edited by Ian Christopher Fletcher, 10 Gender, Migration and the
Laura E. Nym Mayhall Public Sphere, 1850–2005
and Philippa Levine Edited by Marlou Schrover
and Eileen Janes Yeo
4 Women, Educational Policy-
Making and Administration in 11 Across the Religious Divide
England Women, Property, and Law in the
Authoritative Women Since 1800 Wider Mediterranean
Edited by Joyce Goodman (ca. 1300–1800)
and Sylvia Harrop Jutta Sperling and Shona Wray
5 Women, Gender and Labour 12 Gender, Power, and Military
Migration Occupations
Historical and Global Perspectives Asia Pacifi c and the Middle East
Edited by Pamela Sharpe since 1945
Edited by Christine de Matos
6 Women, Accounting, and and Rowena Ward
Narrative
Keeping Books in Eighteenth- 13 The Schooling of Girls in Britain
Century England and Ireland, 1800–1900
Rebecca Elisabeth Connor Jane McDermid
7 The Educated Woman 14 Gender in Late Medieval and
Minds, Bodies, and Women’s Early Modern Europe
Higher Education in Britain, Edited by Marianna G. Muravyeva
Germany, and Spain, 1865–1914 and Raisa Maria Toivo
Katharina Rowold
15 The Political Worlds of Women
Gender and Politics in Nineteenth
Century Britain
Sarah Richardson

The Political Worlds of Women
Gender and Politics in
Nineteenth Century Britain
Sarah Richardson
NEW YORK LONDON
First published 2013
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2013 Taylor & Francis
The right of Sarah Richardson to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Richardson, Sarah, 1964 May 11–
The political worlds of women : gender and politics in nineteenth
century Britain / by Sarah Richardson.
pages cm. — (Routledge research in gender and history ; 15)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Women—Political activity—Great Britain—History—19th century.
2. Feminism—Great Britain—History—19th century. 3. Women—
Great Britain—Social conditions—19th century. 4. Great Britain—
Politics and government—19th century. I. Title.
HQ1236.5.G7R53 2013
305.42094109’034—dc23
2012041942
ISBN13: 978-0-415-82566-5 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-38361-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by IBT Global.
For Tess

Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction: The Political Worlds of Women in
Nineteenth-Century Britain 1
PART I
The Home
1 Politics at Home 21
2 Useful Soup for Benevolent Purposes: The Politics of
Domestic Economy 39
PART II
Community and Neighbourhood
3 Philanthropic Economy: Radicalism, Women, and Charity 63
4 Women and the Politics of the Parish 82
PART III
The National Stage
5 Female Petitioning: The Multiform Warfare of Political Life 109