Helen Blackburn

Helen Blackburn (25 May 1842 – 11 January 1903) was a feminist, writer and campaigner for women's rights, especially in the field of employment. Blackburn was an editor of the Englishwoman's Review magazine. She wrote books about women workers and a history of the women's suffrage movement in Britain and Ireland which became the "standard work".[1] She served as secretary of the National Society for Women's Suffrage and the West of England Suffrage Society, and co-founded the Freedom of Labour Defence League.[2] Her name appears on the plinth of the Millicent Fawcett statue in Parliament Square.

Helen Blackburn
Born25 May 1842
Valentia Island
Died11 January 1903
London

Early life

Blackburn was born in Knightstown, Valentia Island, County Kerry, Ireland on 25 May 1842.[1] Her parents were Bewicke Blackburn, a civil engineer who managed the slate quarries on Valentia, of County Kerry and Isabella Lamb of Co. Durham. Her family moved to London in 1859.[3]

Activism

In London, Blackburn came into contact with the women of the Langham Place Group, especially Jessie Boucherett and Emily Faithfull. Over the years Blackburn and Boucherett worked together on a number of endeavours. Both were editors of the Englishwoman's Review (Blackburn, editor, 1880–90; joint editor, 1890–95).[3] Together they established the Women's Employment Defence League in 1891, to defend women's working rights against restrictive employment legislation.[4] They also together edited The Condition of Working Women and the Factory Acts, 1896.

Blackburn joined the National Society for Women's Suffrage in 1872 and was secretary of the executive committee of the society from 1874 to 1880. She subsequently held similar positions in a number of related organisations.[5] In 1880 Blackburn was secretary of the West of England Suffrage Society in Bristol and was the main organizer of a large demonstration.[6] She edited the Women's Suffrage Calendar in 1896 and 1897.[2]

Blackburn also took opportunities to study, first in 1875, taking a class in Roman Law at University College London, and later (1886–88) classes at University College, Bristol.[7] In the early 1890s, she assisted Charlotte Carmichael Stopes in her writing of British Freewomen: Their Historical Privilege by supplying her own notes on the subject, then by purchasing the whole of the first edition in 1894.[8] She scaled down her work in 1895 to care for her aged father until his death, then resumed her work.[7][2]

Portrait of Caroline Ashurst Biggs by Elizabeth Sarah Guinness associated with the bookcases now at Girton College

Blackburn inspired and funded two collections. The first was an art collection in 1885 that included pictures and work done by professional women to show the result of women's industry. She was insistent that this would not include voluntary or amateurish work but it would show the products of female professionals. The Loan Exhibition of Women's Industries included portraits of leading women like Florence Nightingale and Mary Carpenter. This was donated to Bristol University, but recent enquiries indicate that this work is now lost.[9] Her second collection was focused on a book collection by women. The books were from her collection, friends and from second hand sources. Bookplates were commissioned and two bookcases. The bookcases were decorated with paintings of Lydia Becker and Caroline Ashurst Biggs who had been the previous chairs of the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage. These bookcases were given to Girton College and are extant.[9]

Her long term connection with the women's movement allowed her to write her history of the Victorian women's suffrage campaign, Women's suffrage: a record of the women's suffrage movement in the British Isles, with biographical sketches of Miss Becker, finished in 1902. The book provided an account of the movement's formative years and her colleague Lydia Becker but makes few mentions of Blackburn's own contribution.[2] She had previously edited Becker's writings in a collection called Words of a Leader (1897).[2]

In 1903, in collaboration with Nora Vynne, she created the book Women under the Factory Act. In the book they criticised legislators for treating women as if they had not the intelligence of animals and as if they always needed to be cared for or protected. She and Vynne argued that women should be allowed to take risks with their health in the workplace or they may find themselves always in need to protection as if they were incapable.[10] The book was noted for its accuracy, but the Economic Journal recognised its authors as Freedom of Labour Defence members and suspected that it may have political motives arguing for the "equality of men and women".[11]

Death and legacy

Blackburn died aged 60 at her home in Greycoat Gardens, Westminster, London on 11 January 1903 and was buried at Brompton Cemetery.[3] She left her archives, and the decorated book collection, to Girton College, Cambridge.[12] Her will also made provisions for establishing a loan fund for training young women.[3]

Her name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the plinth of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London, unveiled in 2018.[13][14][15]

Works

Blackburn's books include:

  • A Handbook for Women Engaged in Social and Political Work, 1881.
  • A Handy Book of Reference for Irishwomen, 1888.
  • The Condition of Working Women and the Factory Acts, editor with Jessie Boucherett, 1896.
  • Women under the Factory Acts, written with Nora Vynne, 1903.
  • Women's suffrage: a record of the women's suffrage movement in the British Isles, with biographical sketches of Miss Becker, 1902.

References
  1. O'Neill, Marie (31 October 1984). "The Dublin Women's Suffrage Association and its successors". Dublin Historical Record. XXXVIII (4): 128.
  2. "Blackburn, Helen | Dictionary of Irish Biography". www.dib.ie. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  3. Smith 1912.
  4. Gerry Holloway (2005). Women And Work in Britain Since 1840. London: Routledge. p. 98. ISBN 0415259118.
  5. Walker, Linda. "Blackburn, Helen". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31905. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. "Helen Blackburn". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  7. Elizabeth Crawford (2001). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866–1928. London: Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 0415239265.
  8. Stephanie Green (2013). The Public Lives of Charlotte and Marie Stopes. London: Pickering & Chatto. p. 89. ISBN 9781848932388.
  9. Elizabeth Crawford (2 September 2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928. Routledge. pp. 194–. ISBN 1-135-43401-8.
  10. Braybon, Gail (12 December 2012). Women Workers in the First World War. Routledge. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-136-24866-5.
  11. Wood, George H. (1 September 1903). "Nora Vynne and Helen Blackburn, H. W. Allason. Women Under the Factory Act". The Economic Journal. 13 (51): 418–420. doi:10.2307/2221541. ISSN 0013-0133. JSTOR 2221541.
  12. Elizabeth Crawford (2001). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866–1928. London: Routledge. p. 90. ISBN 0415239265.
  13. "Historic statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett unveiled in Parliament Square". Gov.uk. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  14. Topping, Alexandra (24 April 2018). "First statue of a woman in Parliament Square unveiled". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  15. "Millicent Fawcett statue unveiling: the women and men whose names will be on the plinth". iNews. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
Attribution

Wikisource This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, Charlotte Fell (1912). "Blackburn, Helen". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.

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