WOMEN'S JOURNALS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Part 1: The Women's Penny Paper and Woman's Herald, 1888-1893

"Lively and uncompromising feminism; the most vigorous feminist paper of its time. Contents included interviews with prominent feminists, and regular reports from a variety of organisations, e.g. BWTA, WLF, Primrose League; from May 1890 the Central National Society for Women’s Suffrage was given a column of its own... "Helena B Temple" was the pen-name of Henrietta B Muller (d.1906), sister of Eva McLaren and a prominent feminist. As well as being in at the start of the Women’s Printing Society, she was a pioneer school board member (for Lambeth), and early tax-resister (for the vote, in 1884), and later a Theosophist and associate of Annie Besant".
David Doughan
Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984

Miss F Henrietta Muller (see Vol IV No 161 28 November 1891 for an interview with her), Editor of the Women’s Penny Paper, was born in Valparaiso, Chile. At the age of 9 she went to Boston, USA, and then on to London where she was educated. She returned to Valparaiso for a further two year spell when she was 11, but returned again to London to complete her education. After finishing her schooling in London, she proceeded to Girton College, Cambridge, which she enjoyed immensely. In her own words -

"After a great deal of difficulty and opposition from my family I managed to go to Girton where I spent three most happy years... Miss Davies was the Principal of Girton when I was there. I had to work hard and when I came out with Honours I was immensely proud. I took Moral Sciences, which include Political Economy, Philosophy, Psychology etc... After a little while, at the suggestion of Professor Fawcett, I made up my mind to stand for the London School Board."

The advice of Henry Fawcett (husband of Millicent Garrett Fawcett) proved to be fruitful. Henrietta Muller came top of the poll and worked for the London School Board for 6 years.

Her sister, Eva McLaren was a prominent feminist. They travelled together to Switzerland where they enjoyed the mountaineering. On their return to England they bought a house at Cadogan Place in London and became a suffragist cause clbre when they refused to pay taxes "as a protest against being denied the right to vote". They were arrested, prosecuted, and their goods were distrained.

Henrietta Muller decided to launch a women’s newspaper to help the suffrage cause. She reflected on her reasons for doing so some years later:

"One of the things which always humiliated me very much was the way in which women’s interests and opinions were systematically excluded from the World’s Press. I was mortified too, that our cause should be represented by a little monthly leaflet, not worthy of the name of a newspaper called the Women’s Suffrage Journal. I realised of what vital importance it was that women should have a newspaper of their own through which to voice their thoughts, and I formed the daring resolve that if no one else better fitted for the work would come forward, I would try and do it myself...

The Woman’s Herald started just three years ago, under the name of the Women’s Penny Paper. It has had to struggle with endless difficulties of every kind, but the fact that it weathers them all seems to me to be an evidence of its vitality.

Our readers know that the aim of the paper is to further the emancipation of women in every direction and in every land. I hold that this aim was part of the Mission of Christ in spite of what is advanced to the contrary. The editing has been carried out under the name of Helena B Temple and Co. My chief reason for this was in order that my own individuality should not give a colouring to the paper, but that it should be as far as possible, impersonally conducted and therefore open to reflect the opinions of women on any and all subjects."

The political stance of the paper was both feminist and progressive, without allegiance to any particular party. As she proclaimed in the first issue:

"Our policy is progressive: home politics, that is, industrial, social, and education questions, are of primary importance in our estimation; in treating of these our endeavour will be to speak with honesty and courage, and as befits women of education and refinement. General politics, when truly progressive, can accept neither the Conservative nor Liberal programme as final; they must reject much in both and will accept much in both.

Although we claim for women a full shore of power with all its duties, responsibilities and privileges in public and private life, and although we do so with a full sense of the gravity of our claim, we will not forget the lighter and brighter side of things, the beauty, the brightness and the fun which make the chequered lights on our way".

Henrietta Muller edited the paper for five years, making it an important source for women's studies and gender studies. In April 1892, she handed over control to Mrs Frank Morrison. At first, it was a straightforward continuation, but after Muller went to India, the paper became more and more committed to the Liberal cause and the Women’s Liberal Federation. Two further editorial changes took place in 1893 with the editorship passing first to Christina Bremner, and then to Lady Henry Somerset who championed the cause of Temperance.

Finally, the paper was taken over by the Woman’s Signal which ran from 1894 to 1899 and was edited by Florence Fenwick-Miller from 3 October 1895.

A typical issue of the Women’s Penny Paper contained a variety of articles such as:

London School of Medicine for Women;
Lady Candidates for the London School Board;
National Women’s Christian Temperance Union;
A Review of Women and Work by Emille Pfeiffer;
Interview with Mrs Priscilla Bright McLaren;
News of Mrs Fawcett, Mrs Hodgson Burnett, Miss Anna Pascell, Mrs Ashton Dilke, Mrs Besant, Annie Hicks;

These were all in the first issue. Later issues featured topics such as:

Civil and Political Liberty;
Leeds Weavers;
Our Australian Sisters;
Journalism as a Profession for Women by Frances Power Cobbe;
Women’s Liberal Federation at Birmingham;
Women Lawyers in France and Belgium;
Lady Dufferin and the Lahore Ladies;
Art and Craft by Mrs Mary Beed;
Women as County Councillors;
Mary Wollstonecraft’s "Rights of Women";
Subordination of German Women;
Women as Electors;
A Day at Newnham College by Miss Effie Johnson;
Sir Charles Waren’s Resignation;
Norwegian Women by Dorothea Sebboe;
I Thought I Stood by Olive Schreiner;
Women as Poor Law Guardians; and
Women Voters in America.

There were also interesting features on literature, including an early feminist reaction to The Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen:

"Every woman, especially the married women, ought to have seen the play called "The Dolls House" at the Novelty Theatre. If prevented from doing so let her read, and what is more, mark, learn, and unwordly digest the idea that is revealed by one of the greatest poets of modern times... the Development of Woman...
"The Doll’s House" is the type of dwelling from which we must free married womanhood... Let us shake ourselves free from the shackles of pettiness and feebleness, let us become strong to bear one another’s burdens...." 29 June 1889

The final section of the paper that demands attention is the regular interview feature, taking up as much as two complete pages of the newspaper. The full range of interviewees is here.

Name (issue number)

Mrs Annie Abbott, the "Little Magnet" 162
The Rt Hon the Countess of Aberdeen 185
Madame Adam 23
Mrs Alexander 83
Miss Julie Ames, Editor, Union Signal, USA 103
Eleanor E Archer, Rate Collector at Barford 225
Miss Florence Balgarnie 21
Florence Balgarnie - Women in America 208
Ada S Ballin 79
Mrs Emily Barnard, Artist 131
Marie Bashkirtseff, Artist and Writer, Pt I 171
Marie Bashkirtseff, Artist and Writer, Pt II 172
Miss Lydia Becker 19
Mrs Beddoe 66
Miss Amy E Bell 9
Madame Th Bentzon (Therse Blanc), French Novelist and Critic 126
Mrs Annie Besant 4
Mdlle Sarmisa Bilcesco, LL.D. (of the Faculty of Paris) 169
Madame Blavatsky 133
Miss Mathilde Blind 86
Madame Bodichon 75
Madame Isabella Bogelot 69
Rosa Bonheur 56
Catherine Booth, A Modern Priestess 104
Mrs Bramwell Booth 200
Mrs Brander, Inspector of Girls’ Schools in Madras 176
Miss A L Browne - Hon Sec Paddington WLA and Hon Sec to the Society for Promoting the Return of
Women as County Councillors 223
Elizabeth Barrett Browning - The "Priestess of Poetry" 148
Sophie Bryant D.S.C 81
Mrs Burgwin, Head Mistress of Orange-Street Board School 98
Lady Burton 190
Frances Mary Buss 33
Maria, Mrs Septimus Buss of Shoreditch 49
Mrs Byers 54
Mrs Mona Caird 88
Lady Caithness, Duchess of Pomar 61
Mrs Julia Margaret Cameron, Founder of Photography as Fine Art 128
Mdme Louisa Starr Canziani, Artist 211
Mrs Chaffee-Noble, Elocutionist 130
Mrs Ormiston Chant 6
Mrs Amelia Charles 25
Madame Marya Chliga-Loevy, Author, Chef de L’Union Internationale des Femmes 188
Miss Jane Hume Clapperton 35
In Memoriam - Miss Clough, Late Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge 175
Miss Colenso 70
Miss Jessie Connah 20
Miss Alice Cornwall 52
Mrs Costelloe, President of the Westminster, Chelsea and Guildford Women’s Liberal Association 112
Mrs Craigie 189
Mrs Crawford 71
Mrs Rose Mary Crawshay 177
Miss Caroline Crommelin 57
Mrs Daniell 95
Miss Daston 209
Miss Gertrude Demain-Hammond, Artist 116
Marie Deraisme 26
Miss Rachael Knox Dick 219
Mrs Dietz-Clymer, President of Sorosis 121
Mrs Ashton Dilke 3
Lady Florence Dixie 77
Her Excellency the Rt Hon Countess of Dufferin and Ava 174
Mrs Earle 74
Miss Amelia B Edwards, Authoress and Egyptologist 187
George Eliot (novelist) 170
Miss Rosalind Ellicott, Orchestral Composer 151
The Queen Emma, Regent of Holland 113
Margaret Van Eyck 2
Miss Emily Faithfull 93
Dr Maria Velleda Farn 48
Miss Jessie Fothergill (Authoress) 145
Millicent Garrett Fawcett 2
Mrs Bedford Fenwick, Late Matron of St. Bartholemew’s Hospital 129
Miss Von Finkelstein (Mrs Mountford) - Lecturer 114
Miss Forsyth 82
Mrs J Ellen Foster, Attorney-at-Law, USA 108
Miss Jessie Allen Fowler 28
Mrs Grace Coleridge Frankland 17
The Empress Frederick - Princess Royal of England 147
Miss Friedrichs 89
Elizabeth Fry (Prison Reformer) 179
Miss Agnes Garrett 65
Mrs Gladstone, President of the Women’s Liberal Federation 203
Miss Frances Helena Gray, BA LID 178
Miss M E Green 91
Janet Hamilton, Poet, Essayist, and Apostle of Temperance 158
Miss Jane E Harrison 44
Mrs Ernest Hart 47
Mrs Haweis 8
Mrs Mary Wyatt Haycraft 40
Mrs Annie Hicks 5
Miss Hicks 206
Miss Hickson 123
Mrs Hilton 165
Miss Holyoake, Secretary, Women’s Trade Union League 222
Mrs Pryce Hughes, West London Mission 166
Mrs Hunt, Conductress and Musician 117
Miss Jean Ingelow, Poetess 163
Mrs Jenness-Miller, USA - Apostle of Dress Reform 105
Mrs Jopling-Rowe 7
The Story of Angelica Kaufmann 144
Countess Alice Kearney 224
Arabella Kenealy 58
Madame Kettler 167
Lady Knightley 94
The Rev Florence Kollock MA 218
Miss Lankester, Secretary of the National Health Society 118
Miss Leale, Markswoman 143
Mrs Mary Clement Leavitt 53
Mrs Frank Leslie 42
Reminiscences of Jenny Lind 124
Mrs Belva A Lockwood 50
Mrs Elizabeth Lofgren, Founder of the Finnish Women’s Union 157
Miss Margaret Bright Lucas 24
Mrs Maitland, MLSB 96
Mrs Charles Mallet, Candidate for the West Lambeth School Board 159
Miss E A Manning 45
Mrs Marrable, President of the Society of Lady Artists 101
Miss Kate Marsden, Amongst the Lepers in Siberia 149
Miss Kate Marsden 210
Mrs Emma Marshall 80
Madame Maria Martin, Editor de La Citoyenne 132
Harriet Martineau, Authoress and Journalist 181
Miss M H Mason 59
Mrs Massingberd 12
Miss Helen Mathers (Mrs Henry Reeves) 78
Miss L McGill, Studios 8, Strathmore Gardens, Kensington 99
Fru Johanne Meyer 215
Don Miguel’s Daughter 146
Miss Milner 85
Miss Fannie Moody, Artist 136
Memoir of Mrs Augustus de Morgan 182
Madame de Morsier 37
Miss Honnor Morten, Journalist 110
Miss F Henrietta Mller, Editor of the Woman’s Herald 161
Catherine Maude Nichols 38
Florence Nightingale 186
Madame Esther Nol 64
Madame Olga Novikoff 68
Mrs Cooper Oakley 13
Dr Olga von Oertzen 10
Miss Ormerod, Entomologist 196
Madame Bergman sterberg, Principal, Hampstead Physical Training College 138
Louise Otto 22
Mrs Pankhurst 120
Mrs Louisa Parr, Novelist 156
Miss Ida A Perman, MA/ Dr Annie Wilson Patterson 199
Emily Pfeiffer 67
Mrs Wynford Philipps, President of the Westminster Women’s Liberal Association 173
Miss De la Poer-Beresford, Artist 204
Mrs Beatrice Potter (Mrs Sydney Webb) 202
Miss Honore Potter-Palmer, President of the Board of Lady Managers at the World’s Fair, Chicago 152
Anne Pratt 55
Adelaide Proctor, Poetess 168
Mrs Richard Proctor, Lecturer 125
Mdlle Pujac 73
Miss Henrietta Rae (Mrs Normand) 201
Miss Catherine Ray, Dame of the Pitt Habitation, Hampstead, etc 102
Miss Edith Emily Read, Girton 194
Miss Amye Reade 60
Mrs Isabel Reaney 140
Miss Annie Rive 72
Miss Charlotte Robinson 16
Ernestine Rose 15
George Sand (Madame Dudevant) Pt I 191
George Sand (Madame Dudevant) Pt II 192
Margaret Lady Sandhurst 11
Pundita Ramabi Sarasuati 31
Mrs Scharlier MD BS 14
Lady Charlotte Schreiber 195
Miss Scott, Lady Sanitary Inspector 127
Miss Elizabeth Scovel, A New Evangelist 153
Miss Adeline Sergeant, Authoress 137
Miss Harriette A Seymour 27
Mrs French Sheldon - Africa from a Woman’s Point of View 122
Mrs Sheppard 41
Francesca Stuart Sindici 29
Mrs Burnett Smith (Annie Swan) 97
Miss Donald Smith, Artist 92
Mrs Hannah Whitall Smith 43
Mrs J S Smith 39
Miss Ethel M Smyth, Composer 217
Mrs Warner Snoad, President of Women’s Progressive Society 180
The Lady Henry Somerset, President, British Woman’s Temperance Association 155
Bruno Sperani (nom de plume of Italian women novelist) 100
Mrs Stanley nee Dorothy Tennant 160
Miss Daisie Stanley, Captain of the Blue Eleven 84
Mrs Elizabeth Cady Stanton, President of the American Women’s Suffrage Association 106
Miss M F Stawell, Newnham 194
Miss Kate Steel, The First Lady Professor at the Royal Academy of Music 111
Doctor Alice Stockham of Chicago 46
Mrs Beecher Stowe 76
Miss M Jennie Street 207
Miss Stuart-Snell, Professor of Physical Education and Hygiene at Alexandria House, Kensington Gore, Holloway College, Oxford High School etc 119
In Memoriam - The Late Miss Emily Sturge 193
Madame Syamour 30
Carmen Sylva, The Queen of Roumania 109
Miss Annie Thomas of New York 90
Miss Isabella Tod 51
Mrs Mabel Loomis Todd 135
Ambrosia Tonnesen 62
Her Majesty the Queen [Queen Victoria] 141
The Countess Constance Wachtmeister, President of the Working League of the Theosophical Society 154
Mrs Humphry Ward 184
Miss Julia Wedgewood, Authoress 134
Miss Wigham, of Edinburgh 87
Miss Wilkinson, Landscape Gardener 107
Miss Frances Willard, President of the National Women’s Christian Temperance Union 139
Miss Frances Willard 216
John Strange Winter (Mrs Arthur Stannard) 36
Stephanie Wohl - Authoress 115
Mademoiselle Audzia de Wolska 34
Mrs Mary Brayton Woodbridge, Recording Secretary to the NWCTU 142
"Giana" Lady Wolverton - Foundress of the Needlework Guild 150
Mary Worley, M A 63