Eliza Orme's Ambitions : : Politics and the Law in Victorian London.

• VerfasserIn: Howsam, Leslie,
• Place / Publishing House: Cambridge, UK : : Open Book Publishers,, 2024.; ©2024.
• Year of Publication: 2024
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (178 pages)

"Why are some figures hidden from history? Eliza Orme, despite becoming the first woman in Britain to earn a university degree in Law in 1888, leading both a political organization and a labour investigation in 1892, and participating actively in the women's suffrage movement into the early twentieth century, is one such figure. Framed as a 'research memoir', Eliza Orme's Ambitions fills out earlier scant accounts of this intriguing life, while speculating about why it has been overlooked. Established historian Leslie Howsam shapes the story around her own persistent curiosity in the context of a transformed research landscape, where important letters and explosive newspaper accounts have only recently come to light. These materials show how Orme's career ambitions brought her into conflict with the male-dominated legal community of her time, while her political ambitions were cut short by disputes with other women activists whose notions of political strategy she repudiated. In public, Orme was a formidable debater for the causes she supported and against opponents whose strategies--even for women's suffrage--she repudiated. In private, she was generous, warm, and witty, close to friends, family, and her female partner. Howsam's account of uncovering Orme's professional and personal trajectory will appeal to academic and non-academic readers interested in the progress and setbacks women experienced in the late-Victorian and Edwardian decades."--Publisher's website.

Table of Contents

Prologue / Leslie Howsam -- 1. An Unthinkable Job for a Woman / Leslie Howsam -- 2. Before Law: 1848 to 1871 / Leslie Howsam -- 3. The Commitment to Law: 1872 to 1888 / Leslie Howsam -- 4. Private Life / Leslie Howsam -- 5. Public Figure: 1888 to about 1903 / Leslie Howsam -- 6. Journalism and Authorship / Leslie Howsam -- 7. Last years / Leslie Howsam -- 8. Who was Eliza Orme? / Leslie Howsam.