Charlotte Manning (''

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 ...

'' Solly; 30 March 1803 – 1 April 1871) was a British feminist, scholar and writer. She was the first head of

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

Family

Charlotte Solly was born in 1803, daughter of merchant

Isaac Solly Isaac Solly (1769 – 22 February 1853) was a London merchant in the Baltic trade. During the Napoleonic Wars his company Isaac Solly and Sons were principal contractors supplying hemp and timber to government dockyards. Early life and family He ...

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. She first married William Speir, a physician, and they lived in Calcutta. She wrote a scholarly book titled ''Ancient India'' which was published in 1856. As a widow, she married James Manning, a widowed lawyer, on 3 December 1857. Her second husband's daughters were Charlotte and

Adelaide Manning Elizabeth Adelaide Manning (1828 – 10 August 1905) was a British writer and editor. She championed kindergartens. She was one of the first students to attend Girton College. Manning was active for the National Indian Association which champi ...

. Her niece was Caroline Bishop who was an advocate for

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

education.

Kensington Society

In 1863, Manning helped found the

Ladies' London Emancipation Society The Ladies' London Emancipation Society was an activist abolitionist group founded in 1863, which disseminated anti-slavery material to advance British understanding of the Union cause in the American Civil War as one pertaining to morality rather ...

led by the philanthropist

Clementia Taylor Clementia Taylor ( née Doughty; 17 December 1810 – 11 April 1908) was an English women's rights activist and radical.''ODNB''. Life Clementia (known as Mentia to her friends) was born in Brockdish, Norfolk, one of twelve children. Her family ...

. Other founder members and executive committee members included Mary Estlin,

Sarah Parker Remond Sarah Parker Remond (June 6, 1826 – December 13, 1894) was an American lecturer, activist and abolitionist campaigner. Born a free woman in the state of Massachusetts, she became an international activist for human rights and women's su ...

Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (; 12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist, focusing on racism, race relations within much of her published material.Michael R. Hill (2002''Harriet Martineau: Th ...

Eliza Wigham Eliza Wigham (23 February 1820 – 3 November 1899), born Elizabeth Wigham, was a Scottish campaigner for women's suffrage, anti-slavery, peace and temperance in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was involved in several major campaigns to improve women's r ...

and another women's college founder

Elizabeth Malleson Elizabeth Malleson (''née'' Whitehead; 1828–1916) was an English educationalist, suffragist and activist for women's education and rural nursing. Life Elizabeth Whitehead was born into a Unitarian family in Chelsea, Malleson was the first chil ...

. The Kensington Society was formed in 1865 and this gathered together intelligent women known to the secretary

Emily Davies Sarah Emily Davies (22 April 1830 – 13 July 1921) was an English feminist and suffragist, and a pioneering campaigner for women's rights to university access. She is remembered above all as a co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton Colleg ...

for their "thoughtfulness". This discussion group met at Manning's house, 44

Phillimore Gardens Phillimore Gardens is a street in Kensington, West London, England. Phillimore Gardens runs roughly north to south from Duchess of Bedford's Walk to Kensington High Street. The houses on the west side all back on to Holland Park. History The r ...

, and she was the President of the society from its formation to its dissolution in 1868. The group attracted many notable women, particularly those associated with the improvement in women's access to higher education in Britain. ‘Kensington Society (act. 1865–1868)’
Ann Dingsdale, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 21 July 2015 The Kensington Society charged the substantial sum of two shillings and sixpence annually and the same sum for each meeting. Manning's house was used because it could accommodate the number of women who attended. Some of the women were confident speakers, whereas others used the society as the only place where they could discuss a wide range of subjects privately. The opinions expressed at the meetings were not recorded but the subjects chosen included the obedience of daughters, whether boys and girls should be taught the same subjects and whether women could aspire to be members of parliament or magistrates should they ever be given the vote.

Last years

In 1869, Manning published ''Ancient and Medieval India'' which was a major revision of her previous book. Manning was the first Mistress of

in October of that year.Gillian Sutherland, ‘Manning, (Elizabeth) Adelaide (1828–1905)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 20 July 2015
/ref> She was succeeded the following January by

Emily Shirreff Emily Anne Eliza Shirreff (3 November 1814 – 20 March 1897) was a pioneer in the movement for the higher education of women and the development of the Froebelian principles in England. Biography Family She was born on 3 November 1814, the s ...

. Manning died in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

on 1 April 1871. The month before she died she started the London branch of the

National Indian Association :Should not be confused with the Indian National Association The National Indian Association was formed in Bristol by Mary Carpenter. The London branch was formed the following year. After the death of Mary Carpenter, Elizabeth Adelaide Manning ...

. This was an organisation that became very important to her stepdaughter, Adelaide.Elizabeth Adelaide Manning
Open University. Retrieved 21 July 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Charlotte 1803 births 1871 deaths British non-fiction writers Mistresses of Girton College, Cambridge 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers