Josephine Butler

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Standard Name: Butler, Josephine
Birth Name: Josephine Elizabeth Grey
Married Name: Josephine Elizabeth Butler
Used Form: an English mother
Used Form: the author of the Memoir of John Grey of Dilston
Social reformer JB is primarily remembered for her unrelenting efforts in the campaign against the Contagious Diseases Acts during the second half of the nineteenth century. She was both a gifted orator and a prolific writer on the many causes she espoused. Author of nearly forty pamphlets, she also composed books of political and personal writings: essays, biographies of people whose lives influenced her own, and an autobiography. Almost all of her writings address questions of social and political import—the repeal campaign, the double sexual standard, women's rights, and religious issues.
Petrie, Glen. A Singular Iniquity: The Campaigns of Josephine Butler. Macmillan, 1971.
291-3
Photograph of a charcoal sketch of Josephine Butler, depicted from the side with her head turned towards the viewer. Her hair is pulled back loosely and she is wearing a simple dress.

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Literary responses Christabel Pankhurst
Nearly twenty years later Sylvia Pankhurst accused this book of sensationalism and of preaching the sex war deprecated and denied by the older Suffragists.
qtd. in
Purvis, June, and Maureen Wright. “Writing Suffragette History: the contending autobiographical narratives of the Pankhursts”. Women’s History Review, Vol.
14
, No. 3/4, pp. 405-33.
419
In the later twentieth century it was dismissed by a...
Occupation Susan Miles
The Robertses were succeeding a clergyman who also had liberal views. He had caused some offence by holding the funeral of Emily Davison , the suffragist who was killed on the Derby racecourse.
Miles, Susan. Portrait of a Parson. George Allen and Unwin, 1955.
56
Here...
Occupation Sarah Grand
When the mayor, Cedric Chivers, grew increasingly ill in 1928-9, SG took over most of the mayor's civic duties. For example, in June 1928 she presided over a meeting for the Social Hygiene Council at...
politics Maria Grey
MG strongly endorsed the goal of women's suffrage and the campaign for wider career opportunities. Her friendship with Josephine Butler developed after Butler invited her to speak to the North of England Council for Promoting the Higher Education of Women
politics Flora Annie Steel
FAS continued her advocacy for Indian causes after her return to England, through the medium of letters to the Times. She wrote in January 1897 to support Indian cottage industry by seeking customers for...
politics Laura Ormiston Chant
In addition to her other political activities, Chant was heavily involved in the activities of the National Vigilance Association . She edited its journal, the Vigilance Record, and took a leading role (alongside Millicent Garrett Fawcett
politics F. Mabel Robinson
FMR became deeply interested in political debates and struggles around the issue of home rule for Ireland, and went so far as to carry secret messages back and forth between England and Ireland. This...
politics Emmeline Pankhurst
Its members included Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy , Jane Cobden , William Lloyd Garrison , Josephine Butler , and Mrs P. A. (Clementia) Taylor (convenor of the first Women's Suffrage Committee formed in London), among others.
politics Sarah Grand
From the time she was fifteen, SG had supported Josephine Butler 's crusade against the Contagious Diseases Acts of 1864, 1866, and 1869. (She admired Butler but never met her.) The medical knowledge SG gleaned...
Publishing Julia Wedgwood
JW contributed Female Suffrage, Considered Chiefly with Regard to its Indirect Results to Woman's Work and Woman's Culture, a volume of feminist essays edited by Josephine Butler .
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.
Publishing Jessie Boucherett
It was no doubt in connection with this essay that JB also contributed, in July this year, another, entitled Employment of Women, to Josephine Butler 's short-lived periodical Now-a-Days.
Publishing Menella Bute Smedley
During the same year she contributed a serial story, Lucy Ferrars, to a feminist journal sponsored by Josephine Butler . MBS 's serial spanned two successive titles of this journal, appearing in issues of...
Publishing Harriet Martineau
HM was one of the first to be aware of the movement towards regulating prostitution in Britain by means of instituting in military districts the arrest and medical examination for syphilis of women who were...
Reception Sophia Jex-Blake
This book was well received by most American universities, as it represented them in a favourable light compared to the more segregated British ones. The publisher Macmillan thought highly enough of SJB 's work to...
Reception Frances Power Cobbe
FPC 's importance to her contemporaries is most readily recalled today by the fact that Matthew Arnold thought her a worthy target of his corrective wisdom in The Function of Criticism at the Present Time...

Timeline

15 October 1874: James Stansfeld gave a speech at Bristol...

Building item

15 October 1874

James Stansfeld gave a speech at Bristol strongly in favour of the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts.
Walkowitz, Judith R. ’We Are Not Beasts of the Field’: Prostitution and the Campaign Against the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1869-1886. University of Rochester, 1974.
117
Walkowitz, Judith R. Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class, and the State. Cambridge University Press, 1980.
97
Walkowitz, Judith R. Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class, and the State. Cambridge University Press, 1980.
96-7
Walkowitz, Judith R. ’We Are Not Beasts of the Field’: Prostitution and the Campaign Against the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1869-1886. University of Rochester, 1974.
117
Butler, Josephine. Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade. Hyperion Press, 1989.
68

August 1885: The most powerful social purity organization,...

National or international item

August 1885

The most powerful social purity organization, the National Vigilance Association , was founded.
Petrow, Stefan. Policing Morals: The Metropolitan Police and the Home Office 1870-1914. Clarendon Press, 1994, p. 343.
122-5
Walkowitz, Judith R. City of Dreadful Delight. University of Chicago Press, 1992.
129

13 May 1886: The National Association for the Repeal of...

National or international item

13 May 1886

The National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts held its last meeting. It considered its work completed following the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts.
Walkowitz, Judith R. ’We Are Not Beasts of the Field’: Prostitution and the Campaign Against the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1869-1886. University of Rochester, 1974.
133
Walkowitz, Judith R. Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class, and the State. Cambridge University Press, 1980.
99

February 1887: The Pioneer, organ of the Social Purity Alliance...

Building item

February 1887

The Pioneer, organ of the Social Purity Alliance and the Moral Reform Union , began publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
11

4 February 1888: Annie Besant and W.T. Stead edited the first...

Women writers item

4 February 1888

Annie Besant and W.T. Stead edited the first weekly issue of The Link: A Journal for the Servants of Man / Law and Liberty League, published in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
12

May 1888: Josephine Butler edited, in London, the first...

Building item

May 1888

Josephine Butler edited, in London, the first issue of The Dawn: An Occasional/Quarterly/ Sketch of the Progress of the Work of the British, Continental and General Federation for the Abolition of the State Regulation...

October 1892: F. A. Atkins edited the first issue of The...

Building item

October 1892

F. A. Atkins edited the first issue of The Young Woman, a magazine for girls interested in religion, published in London.
White, Cynthia L. Women’s Magazines 1693-1968. Michael Joseph, 1970.
72
Barrell, Joan, and Brian Braithwaite. The Business of Women’s Magazines. 2nd ed., Kogan Page, 1988.
9
Tye, J. R. Periodicals of the Nineties: A Checklist of Literary Periodicals Published in the British Isles at Longer than Fortnightly Intervals 1890-1899. Oxford Bibliographical Society, 1974.
18
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
17

October 1896: The Dawn, a quarterly edited by Josephine...

Building item

October 1896

The Dawn, a quarterly edited by Josephine Butler , ceased publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
19
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.
164

July 1898: The Pioneer, the organ of the Social Purity...

Building item

July 1898

The Pioneer, the organ of the Social Purity Alliance and the Moral Reform Union , ended publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
11

26 June to 5 July 1899: The International Council of Women sponsored...

Building item

26 June to 5 July 1899

The International Council of Women sponsored the International Congress of Women , a ten-day conference held at Westminster Town Hall in London. Those attending included Susan B. Anthony , Sidney Webb , Josephine Butler

July 1900: The Storm-Bell, Josephine Butler's own paper,...

Building item

July 1900

The Storm-Bell, Josephine Butler 's own paper, which carried her views on prostitution in India, etc., ceased publication.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
20
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.
under Josephine Butler

19 July 1904: King Edward VII laid the foundation stone...

Building item

19 July 1904

King Edward VII laid the foundation stone for Liverpool Cathedral, built to the designs of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott .
“The Cathedral”. 1904-2004: Liverpool Cathedral.

August 1915: The Young Woman, a monthly, ended publication...

Writing climate item

August 1915

The Young Woman, a monthly, ended publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
17

November 1970: The Shield ended publication in London....

Building item

November 1970

The Shield ended publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
5

Earlier 1981: Merseyside county councillor Margaret Simey,...

Building item

Earlier 1981

Merseyside county councillor Margaret Simey , already an activist on behalf of poor communities, became chairman of the Liverpool police authority not long before the Toxteth race riots broke out.
Clarke, Raymond. “Margaret Simey”. The Guardian, 29 July 2004, p. 29.
29

Texts

Butler, Josephine. Rebecca Jarrett. Morgan and Scott, 1885.
Butler, Josephine. Recollections of George Butler. 2nd ed., J. W. Arrowsmith, 1892.
Butler, Josephine. Social Purity. Morgan and Scott, 1879.
Butler, Josephine. The Constitution Violated. Edmonston and Douglas, 1871.
Butler, Josephine. The Constitution Violated. Cambridge University Press, 2010, http://www.cambridge.org/series/sSeries.asp?code=CLOR.
Butler, Josephine, editor. The Dawn. F. Burfoot.
Butler, Josephine. The Education and Employment of Women. T. Brakell, 1868.
Butler, Josephine. “The Education and Employment of Women, 1868”. Indiana University: Victorian Women Writers Project.
Cobbe, Frances Power. “The Final Cause of Woman”. Woman’s Work and Woman’s Culture, edited by Josephine Butler, Macmillan, 1869, pp. 1-26.
Butler, Josephine. The Hour Before the Dawn. Trübner, 1876.
Ladies’ National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, et al. “The Ladies’ Appeal and Protest”. Daily News, 1869.
Butler, Josephine. The Lady of Shunem. H. Marshall and Son, 1894.
Butler, Josephine. The New Abolitionists. Dyer Brothers, 1876.
Butler, Josephine. The New Era. T. Brakell, 1872.
Butler, Josephine. “The New Godiva. A Dialogue, 1888”. Indiana University: Victorian Women Writers Project.
Butler, Josephine. The Principles of the Abolitionists. Dyer Brothers, 1885.
Butler, Josephine, editor. The Storm-Bell. F. Burfoot.
Butler, Josephine, and James, 1843 - 1913 Stuart. The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness. Translator Airy, Osmund, J. W. Arrowsmith, 1913.
Butler, Josephine. “Times: Obituary Notice of Mrs. Butler”. Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade, Hyperion Press, 1989, p. vii - x.
Butler, Josephine. Truth Before Everything. Pewtress, 1897.
Butler, Josephine. “Truth Before Everything, 1897”. Indiana University: Victorian Women Writers Project.
Butler, Josephine. Une voix dans le desert. Sandoz, 1875.
Butler, Josephine, editor. Woman’s Work and Woman’s Culture. Macmillan, 1869.
Butler, Josephine, editor. Woman’s Work and Woman’s Culture. Cambridge University Press, 2010, http://www.cambridge.org/series/sSeries.asp?code=CLOR.