Catherine Isabella "Kate" Barmby (''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Watkins; 1816/1817 – 26 December 1853) was an English utopian socialist and writer on women's emancipation. She was the daughter of Bridstock Watkins and belonged to the lower-middle class. Little is known of her early life or education, but her instruction allowed her to become a writer and lecturer. She wrote several articles for the Owenite socialist newspaper ''
New Moral World'' on feminist demands and her Millennialist beliefs.
She was married to the socialist
Goodwyn Barmby
John Goodwyn Barmby (Bapt. 12 November 1820 – 18 October 1881) was born at Yoxford in Suffolk and educated at Woodbridge School. He was an English Victorian utopian socialist thinker. He and his wife Catherine Barmby (1816/17–1853) were in ...
.
Articles
Watkins was first published In the ''New Moral World'' in 1835 under the pen-name Kate
and continued writing for this journal for more than five years.
The ''New Moral World'' was the official journal of the Owenite movement and was first issued in December 1834 after its predecessor ''
The Pioneer'' ceased publication in July 1834.
Her articles reflected the general Owenite feminist concerns at the time, such as women's reduced access to employment or the danger that private property supposes for family life as well as explanations and reflections on
Robert Owen
Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted e ...
's views.
References
Utopian socialists
English socialists
1810s births
1853 deaths
English non-fiction writers
English women non-fiction writers
English feminist writers
Owenites
English socialist feminists
19th-century women writers
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