Davies

SARAH EMILY DAVIES (1830 - 1921)

Though born in Southampton, Emily Davies was the daughter of the rector of St Mary's, Gateshead. A block of flats (with plaque) now stands on the Bensham Road where the old rectory was. Denied the university education her brothers had enjoyed, her thoughts turned to the improvement of opportunities for women in society and, following a visit to London, she set up a branch of the Society for the Employment of Women in Gateshead.

After her father's death in 1862, Emily moved to London where, as well as editing the English Woman's Journal and the Victoria Magazine for a time, she campaigned with Elizabeth Garrett and others for women to be admitted to university and the medical profession. She published The Higher Education of Women in 1866 (reprinted 1988) and her essays are collected in Thoughts on Some Questions Relating to Women, 1868-1908 (1910). Though Emily Davies helped to organise the first suffragette petition, her main efforts were in the educational field. She established a college in Hitchin, Herts, in 1867. This moved to Cambridge some years later, becoming the famous Girton College. Late in life she returned to the suffragette cause, but recoiled from militant action.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
SARAH EMILY DAVIES (1830 - 1921) Though born in Southampton, Emily Davies was the daughter of the rector of St Mary's, Gateshead. A block of flats (with plaque) now stands on the Bensham Road where the old rectory was. Denied the university education her brothers had enjoyed, her thoughts turned to the improvement of opportunities for women in society and, following a visit to London, she set up a branch of the Society for the Employment of Women in Gateshead. After her father's death in 1862, Emily moved to London where, as well as editing the English Woman's Journal and the Victoria Magazine for a time, she campaigned with Elizabeth Garrett and others for women to be admitted to university and the medical profession. She published The Higher Education of Women in 1866 (reprinted 1988) and her essays are collected in Thoughts on Some Questions Relating to Women, 1868-1908 (1910). Though Emily Davies helped to organise the first suffragette petition, her main efforts were in the educational field. She established a college in Hitchin, Herts, in 1867. This moved to Cambridge some years later, becoming the famous Girton College. Late in life she returned to the suffragette cause, but recoiled from militant action.
Return to Index	On to next Author