Emilia Francis Strong (2 September 1840,
Ilfracombe
Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs.
The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along the ...
, Devon – 23 October 1904), better known as Lady Dilke, was a British author, art historian, feminist and trade unionist.
Biography
Emilia Francis Strong, the daughter of Henry and Emily Weedon Strong, was called by her middle name, with its masculine spelling, during her childhood and youth. She was raised in
Iffley
Iffley is a village in a designated Conservation Area in Oxfordshire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the city of Oxford, between Cowley and the estates of Rose Hill and Donnington, and in proximity to the River Thames (Isis). A nota ...
, near
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, and attended the
South Kensington Art School in London in her late teens.
She married
Mark Pattison, Rector of
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...
, in 1861; she was then known as Francis Pattison, Mrs. Mark Pattison, or, in some of her publications, as E. F. S. Pattison.
After Mark Pattison's death in 1884, she married
Sir Charles Dilke
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet, PC (4 September 1843 – 26 January 1911) was an English Liberal and Radical politician. A republican in the early 1870s, he later became a leader in the radical challenge to Whig control of the Liber ...
, and was subsequently known as Lady Dilke or Emilia Dilke. Both of her marriages were topics of some public discussion.
She became a contributor to the ''
Saturday Review'' in 1864 and subsequently was for many years fine-art critic of the ''
Academy
An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
'' and from 1873 its art editor, and she published in numerous other journals in Britain and France.
In addition to numerous signed and unsigned essays, and her major works of art history, she wrote essays on French politics and on women's trade unionism and women's work. She also published two volumes of supernatural short stories (a third part-volume appeared posthumously).
She was involved with the Women's Protective and Provident League, later the
Women's Trade Union League
The Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) (1903–1950) was a U.S. organization of both working class and more well-off women to support the efforts of women to organize labor unions and to eliminate sweatshop conditions. The WTUL played an important ...
(WTUL), from near its inception in 1874 and she served as President of the WTUL for many years until her death.
Her niece,
Gertrude Tuckwell
Gertrude Mary Tuckwell (1861–1951) was an English trade unionist, social worker, author, and magistrate.
Early life and education
Gertrude Mary Tuckwell was born in Oxford on 25 April 1861, the second daughter of Rosa née Strong (''b''. 18 ...
(daughter of her sister Rosa and brother-in-law the
Reverend William Tuckwell) worked with her closely in her feminist and trade unionist activities, later becoming the first woman
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
in London in 1919.
Works
In addition to numerous articles in periodicals, she published, under the surname Pattison:
* ''The Renaissance of Art in France'', 2 vols. (London, 1879)
* "Sir Frederic Leighton, P.R.A.". In ''Illustrated Biographies of Modern Artists'', e.d. Francois G. Dumas (Paris, 1882).
* ''Claude Lorrain, sa vie and ses oeuvres'' (Paris, 1884)
Under the surname Dilke, she published the following books:
''Art in the Modern State''(London, 1888)
* ''French Painters of the Eighteenth Century'' (London, 1899)
* ''French Architects and Sculptors of the Eighteenth Century'' (London, 1900)
* ''French Engravers and Draftsmen of the XVIIIth Century'' (London, 1902)
* ''French Furniture and Decoration in the Eighteenth Century'' (1901)
''The Shrine of Death and Other Stories''(London,1886)
''The Shrine of Love and Other Stories''(London, 1891)
* ''The Book of the Spiritual Life, with a memoir of the author'' (1905) Stories and essays; memoir by Charles Dilke.
* ''The Outcast Spirit and Other Stories'' (Snuggly Books, 2016) Contains most of her fiction.
Further reading
*Betty Askwith, Lady Dilke: A Biography (London: Chatto and Windus, 1968)
*Charles Dilke
"Memoir"of the author in Emilia Dilke, The Book of the Spiritual Life (1905)
*Kali Israel, Names and Stories: Emilia Dilke and Victorian Culture (New York: OUP, 1999)
*Hilary Fraser, "Emilia Dilke," in ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004)
*Elizabeth Mansfield, "Articulating Authority: Emilia Dilke’s Early Essays and Reviews," ''Victorian Periodicals Review'' 31: 1 (Spring 1998): 76-86
References
External links
Lady Emilia Dilke*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dilke, Emilia Frances
English journalists
English art historians
English feminists
English horror writers
English trade unionists
People from Ilfracombe
1840 births
1904 deaths
Women horror writers
Women art historians
Wives of baronets
English women trade unionists
19th-century English writers
19th-century British women writers
20th-century English writers
20th-century British women writers
British women historians