Ellen Bemrose

In May 1866 Mrs Ellen Roberts, young wife and mother, signed a very influential document.  With eleven other women from Denbigh and nearby St Asaph in Wales, she signed a Petition to Parliament asking for votes for women.  How did she come to support such a remarkable idea?  .  Was it to do with her family background, or was it to do with new friends she had made in Denbigh when she moved there four months before?   At this distance of time it is impossible to know for certain. 

   Ellen Bemrose was born in 1834 the daughter of William Bemrose and his wife Elizabeth.  In the 1861 census she at home at the busy stationers and printers on the corner of Irongate in the ‘Irongate, Derby’ Louise Rayner 1864 [Derby Museums and Art Gallery ]

centre of Derby.   Most of her   family members were practically involved in the business.   Her father William Bemrose, her two elder brothers and possibly her mother too. 

Ellen’s father, William Bemrose, had been born in Northamptonshire in about 1794 and in 1809 had been apprenticed to Mozley’s Printers in Gainsborough Lincolnshire aged 15.  In 1810 Mozley’s moved to Derby.  By 1826, when he was 32, William had set up his own printing firm there.  At first it was a small stationary shop at Wirksworth.  However he soon set up a factory at Midland Place Derby to make tickets and timetables for the railways.  Ellen was born in 1834.  By 1851 the family were living at 35, Irongate. William and his son Henry were partners in the firm employing   "46 hands exclusive of 4 in the family 11 journeymen, 6  apprentices, 22 boys, 2 women and 3 girls.’  There were three apprentice booksellers, a widowed visitor, Mary M Edwards, and two servants.

The 1851 census for the Bemrose household

Ten years later the family are at 1 Sadler Gate, At the factory Ellen’s father now employed 33 men, 36 boys, and 11 women and girls.  Ellen was at home with her parents, an apprentice bookseller and two servants.  Her brothers had married and moved out.

The 1861 census for the Bemrose household

Marriage

On 26^th June 1862 Ellen married John Henry Roberts at All saints Church Derby. He was 24 years old, and was the Second Master of Derby Grammar School. 

He had entered Emmanuel College Cambridge in 1856, been ordained a deacon at Salisbury in 1861 and priest in Litchfield in 1862.  In the 1861 census he was recorded as an Assistant Master at Mannamead School, near Compton Gifford, Devon. 

The Derby Mercury of Wednesday 23^rd  October 1861 records “ Derby Grammar School- The vacancy of Second Mastership of this school has been filled up by the appointment of Rev John Henry Roberts , B A of Emmanuel College Cambridge and late master of the Lower School, Rossall.”

Derby Grammar School moved, St Helen’s House, in 1861-2 while Ellen’s husband was Second Master. Founded in about 1149, by 1865 the transition from traditional grammar school to public school was already under way under the new headmaster the Rev Walter Clark.

 

All Saints church Derby in 1803

Ellen and John continued to live in Derby until 1866 when he was appointed Head Master of Denbigh Grammar School

Derby Mercury, Wed Feb 21, 1866

The Denbigh Grammar School - We are able to announce that the appointment of Headmaster of the school has been conferred upon the Rev. John Henry Roberts, MA, of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, late second master of the Derby Grammar school. Mr Roberts graduated in 1859 when his name appeared as senior optime - also in the classical honours. The highly creditable position he gained at the University is a sufficient guarantee for his classical and mathematical attainments; while the marked success he has met with at Derby in preparing candidates for the various competetive examinations, gives every reason to hope that he possesses all the qualifications necessary to render him a most valuable and efficient master. The school will reopen at Easter for boarders and day scholars in suitable commodious premises, for which arrangements are being made. Denbighshire Telegraph

Pall Mall Gazette, Thursday Feb 22 1866
The Headmastership of Denbigh Grammar School has been conferred on the Rev. John Henry Roberts, MA, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, second master of the Grammar School at Derby. Mr Roberts graduated in 1859, when he was seventeenth senior optime in the Mathematical Tripos and fifteenth in the third-class of the Classical Tripos.

Thomas Gee

Ellen, John and their young family arrived in Denbigh early in 1866, and it is likely that their early acquaintances in the town included the family of Thomas Gee and his wife

Susanna.  Thomas had been a pupil in the grammar school himself and maintained his interest in the school alongside his Liberal politics, printing business and passion for Welsh culture.

 In April 1866 John Stuart Mill, newly elected Liberal MP, had suggested to his step daughter Helen Taylor and her fellow members of the Kensington Society, that if they could collect 100 good signatures for a petition asking for votes for women, he was prepared to present it to the House of Commons. 

The Kensington Society was a women’s discussion group.  It included many women who had already started to campaign for women’s education and property rights, There were 68 members, aged from

Charlotte Manning

80 to their late teens.  Though meetings were in Kensington, at the house of Adelaide Manning, country members could contribute to the discussion by post.  After a discussion that women should have the vote, led by the artist Barbara Bodichon, it was decided to collect signatures for a petition.  Mrs Manning, the hostess of the society, already had several relatives involved as members, and she turned to her family connections in the search for signatures.  At least ten of her relatives were persuaded to sign, including her brother’s daughter’s sisters in law, Clara and Jane Wicksteed who lived at St Asaph, close to Denbigh.  It is likely that it was they who recruited Mrs Susannah Gee to collect signatures in Denbigh. The new headmaster’s wife, Ellen Roberts was persuaded to sign, as were her neighbours

Vale Street, Denbigh

It is likely that Susannah Gee asked Ellen to sign the suffrage petition, along with her neighbours Dorothy James, Jane Pierce, Anna and Annie Roberts, Anne Davies and Mary Ann Smith, many of whom may have been her neighbours in Vale Street. 

Use your vote!  She campaigned for it from the age of 24 and lived to vote herself!

Constance Phillott (1842-1931) Artist

A Cottage Child by Costance Phillott

Constance Phillott (1842-1931)  Was born in  1842 the daughter of Dr Arthur Phillott and Frances Caroline Frend, a sister of Mrs De Morgan.  Her mother’s family were involved with founding Bedford College, which pioneered education for young women.  .    In the 1851 census her father was a GP in Wimpole Street, where the family were living.  .  In 1871 she is with her father. at 251 Stanhope Street , describing herself as an artist  .  In 1881 census she describes herself as an artist.  In the 1911 census her 100 year old mother is head of the household which consists of her sister and two servants. Apparently she was active in Suffrage societies,.   

In 1929 she appears in the electoral register at 6 Devonshire Hill in the same house as Mary Sarah Burt, Maude Olin and Rhoda Wiltshire, all of whom were on the Voters register.  

Use your Vote!  She couldn’t

Sarah Parker Remond (1824-1894)

My stitched portrait shows Sarah outside 48 Bedford Square, the original home of Bedford College.  http://beginnings.ioe.ac.uk/begsholloway.html This website tells more about the College and women who founded it, many of whom campaigned against slavery and asked tor the vote 

Sarah travelled through Britain lecturing on the horrors of slavery in America at a time when Englishwomen rarely spoke in public. After supporting the Suffrage Petition in1866 she trained and practiced as a doctor

Sarah was the child of freed slaves, brought up in New York.   She and her brother campaigned against slavery. Once she went to the theatre and was thrown out because she was Black.  She took the theatre to court and won. She was unable to continue her education in New York so came over to London in the 1850’s to further her education at Bedford College and stayed with campaigners for women’s rights who were active in the women’s anti-slavery campaigns in Britain. She travelled round Britain as an acclaimed anti-slavery lecturer.  After signing the petition in she went to Florence where she trained and practiced as a doctor for many years.  

Use your vote!  She couldn’t…

No.10  Elizabeth Hall Dare Jerdan (1820-1897) Governess

The governess in her lodgings depicted by Richard Redgrave is young and beautiful- Elizabeth Jerdan  spent more than 30 years in this difficult profession, and then passed her retirement alone in a bed-sit.

Many of the women who asked Parliament for the vote in 1866 had experienced the difficulties of being head of a household, as a single parent, widow, or child supporting an elderly mother.  Many more had lived in such households with all the uncertainty and poverty which this meant at this time.  For Elizabeth and her mother this was compounded by her father’s scandalous behaviour.

 Elizabeth Jerdan was born in 1820 and christened with her younger sister in St Mary Abbots, Kensington in 1825.  Her parents were William and Frances Jerdan. William was a writer, who very publicly had a mistress and an illegitimate family.  Elizabeth had moved away with her mother to Guildford where they lived in poverty.   Her mother died in 1856, and 36 year old Elizabeth then had to support herself.  She earned her living as a governess. In 1891 she was in lodgings as a retired governess in Seymore Place.   She died in 1897.

Use your Vote!  Ellen and Ann Jennison could manage a zoo, but they couldn't!

Sisters in Law Ellen and Ann Jennison were part of an extended family of entrepreneurs who ran the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens with a hotel and other facilities.  Both women were involved in te management of ths large and successful enterprise.

  

No 9 Jennison, [ Mrs] Ellen Born 1841, In 1861 she was living at the Belle Vue  Hotel and Garden with her husband George and her  father-in-law the innkeeper. George Jennison in 1871 is ‘ Senior partner in the firm of John Jennision and Co general contractors and proprietors of zoological gardens Belle Vue Manchester employing 153 men In 1881 Ellen  was a widow and Assistant manager to her brother in law James Jennison, Part owner and manager of Belle Vue Zoo.

 9 Jennison, [Miss] Ann Born 1835  she married Angelo Medina, a musician in 1857 and in 1861 census was living with  the extended Jennison family at Belle Vue.Zoo  Her husband Angelo died in 1869 and she married farmer  George Kelsall in 1870.  She was a part owner and manager of Belle Vue Zoo.   Her mother was a Rathbone. http://manchesterhistory.net/bellevue/menu.html

Mondy, Maria Charlotte 

Signed the petition from the family home, 2, Coldbath Street, Greenwich London SE. This was a poor street at the bottom of Blackheath Hill on the way to Lewisham.  Her parents were both working as shoemakers, but both their children worked hard to gain an education. Maria became a teacher and her brother Edmund became a professor of Mining ,

Samuel Mondy and Caroline Glasscock  had married in Deptford in 1839  Both their parents were shoemakers.   Mary was born in Water Street, Bristol in 1843.

 By 1851 the family had moved back to London and were living in Cold Bath Lane Greenwich .  Maria now had a younger brother, 5 year old Edmund.  Her father was a shoe maker and her mother Caroline a shoe binder. 

 In the 1861 census 15 year old Edmund was an apprentice shipwright.  18 year old Maria is absent and I have not traced her whereabouts. Very probably she is working in a school, or perhaps was in Lewisham running a small day school. (see below)   

In 1865 Maria was recruited to the London Association of schoolmistresses, Emily Davies’ organisation which fostered the education of girls by supporting their teachers.  In 1866 she laft home and was living at  44 Charrington Street Oakley Square.  This was a lodging house run by a widow, Ellen Theobald. 

 In 1867 her brother  won a prize from the Royal Society of arts for mathematics done with Deptford Local Board, he won £3 He won another prize for mechanics in 1869   He was a ship wright still. By 1871 Caroline had died, and Samuel has moved to 3 Mount Pleasant Place, Lewisham Road. For a while Maria ran a ladies day school there in 1860, so her father may have owned the property already.  He is employing a live-in Apprentice and they have a servant.  Edmund is now a student at the Royal School of Mines. In 1880 Edmund went to India as a professor of mining, and remained there until he retired in 1903.   By 1881 Samuel has moved to Commercial Place Greenwich and has a house keeper and two lodgers.  He is employing two men and an apprentice. By 1901 he is living in Chetwynd Road St Pancras with his new wife (Amelia Hunt, his housekeeper!)

 In 1871 Maria was teaching at Denmark Hill Grammar School, a large boys’ preparatory school in Camberwell, said to be one of the two best in London. She was one of two governesses, there were also 3 masters and 37 boys boarding.

She was involved with the Working Women’s College in Queen Square and you can see an example https://archive.org/stream/selectionsfromwo185work#page/2/mode/2up of a creative a magazine put together by students of the  Working Women’s college at the time that she  was an associate there. 

At this time she became a mature University student .  From 1879-1880 and 1882-3 she enrolled at University College London for courses.    By 1881 she is a visiting teacher, lodging in Crowndale Road with a qualified nurse and a widow Jane Russell, who is an agent for The Metropolitan Association for Befriending Servants. 

,   In 1891 Maria is still a visiting teacher lodging at at 37 Crowndale Road, sharing with Jane Russell  (now a secretary for a servants association}  and Minnie Baker, clerk to a reading room and Margaret H Bayton, aged 17, a typist. These young working women, Minnie and Margaret , are boarders having their meals provided by Maria and Jane.

In 1891 she is a London member of the American Institute of Instruction, possibly attending in July 1891

She was involved in the National Home Reading Union which offered courses of prescribed books to people of all classes, with reading circles to support their reading. She wrote a pamphlet for the Union which includes suggestions for organising reading groups for young people.  . https://archive.org/details/readingasmeansof00mondrich to read it on line!  From page 4 She writes about her personal experiences of teaching classes of working class children in Board schools and the practical ways that she introduced the children to literature.

 

The Columbian Reading Union. Magazine recorded
721 1896
“Miss Maria C. Mondy, who is in charge of the young people’s section of the
National Home Reading Union, London, in a pamphlet on School Libraries, has
quoted these words from Sir Walter Scott: To make boys learn to read, and then
place no good books within their reach, is to give them an appetite, and leave noth-
ing in the pantry save unwholesome and poisonous food, which, depend upon it,
they will eat rather than starve. She has also gathered some powerful words
from Rev. E. Thring on reading as a means of education.”

  When Maria’s father died in 1905 he left 119 .6..3d

In 1896 and 1921 she was on voters registers at 17 West Hill, Highgate as a householder for Crowndale Road as well as West Hill.    In the 1911 census she records living there on her own, with four rooms    Before she died in 1925 she would have been able to vote.  When she died in Highgate she left £259..1s..10d and her Professor brother was her executor.

Use your Vote!  She couldn't...

No 5.  Charlotte Manning (1803-1871 ) was one of the important  women who were role models for Elizabeth Garrett , Emily Davies and  Barbara Bodichon.  Older women who had campaigned against slavery in the 1840's went on to support colleges to educate women- Bedford College and Queens College London, where these campaigners could attend classes.  Charlotte hosted the Kensington Society, where younger women had a safe setting to discuss controversial issues like the vote.   Charlotte  Solly  married Mr Spier and  went to live in India.  She  became interested in Indian history, about which she wrote a book.Ancient India, (1859)   Returning to England after her husband’s death she married Sergent at Arms Manning. She hosted the Kensington Society meetings , signed the 1866 Suffrage Petition and was a founder of the National Indian Association which celebrated Indian culture and welcomed Indian visitors and immigrants.  She became first Mistress of Girton College.

In the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography she is mentioned in the biography of her step daughter Elizabeth Adelaide Manning.