Florence Fenwick Miller (sometimes Fenwick-Miller, 1854–1935) was an English journalist, author and social reformer of the late 19th and early 20th century. She was for four years the editor and proprietor of

The Woman's Signal ''The Woman's Signal'' was a weekly British feminist magazine published by Marshall & Son, London, from 4 January 1894 to 23 March 1899. It was edited by Lady Henry Somerset, Annie Holdsworth and Florence Fenwick-Miller. Although primarily a tem ...

, an early and influential feminist journal.

Biography

Florence Fenwick Miller was the eldest daughter of John Miller, a merchant sea-captain, and of Eleanor Miller née Estabrook, daughter of a railway engineer. Privately educated as a child, she read for a medical degree at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

from 1871, in the year following the

Edinburgh Seven The Edinburgh Seven were the first group of matriculated undergraduate female students at any British university. They began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869 and, although the Court of Session ruled that they should neve ...

, the first females to be admitted to the course. Like the Seven, she was unable to pursue clinical practise and Edinburgh declined to award a degree to her. Edinburgh University had decided against awarding medical degrees to women. In 1873 she took a midwifery certificate at the

Ladies' Medical College The Ladies' Medical College (renamed The Obstetrical College for Women) was a short-lived English medical college for women, established in 1864 by the Female Medical Society. It offered courses in midwifery and diseases associated with women and c ...

in London. Despite her training, Miller quickly moved away from medical practice towards wider spheres. She quickly established herself as a lecturer on literary and social reform topics, debating in London at the

Sunday Lecture Society The Sunday Lecture Society was a British-based society that gave a number of influential lectures on Sundays. The first incarnation of the society met at St. George's Hall, Langham Place for members to hear lectures on arts, history, science and l ...

, appearing before the

London Dialectical Society The London Dialectical Society was a British professional association that formed in 1867 to encourage debate "of all questions without reserve, but especially those comprised in the domain of ethics, metaphysics, and theology". It is best known f ...

(which was engaged in investigating the phenomenon of

Spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

; James Edmunds, the founder of the Ladies' Medical College was a committee member); and giving talks throughout the country. She was an early and vocal advocate of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and, later, in 1889, was one of the founders, with

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

, of the Women's Franchise League. Miller also wrote, as journalist and author of fiction and non-fiction. In the former capacity she contributed very widely, including to '' Fraser's Magazine'', '' Lett's Illustrated Household Magazine'', ''

Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...

'', and ''

The Governess ''The Governess'' is a 1998 British period drama film written and directed by Sandra Goldbacher. The screenplay focuses on a young Jewish woman of Sephardic background, who reinvents herself as a gentile governess when she is forced to find w ...

'', the '' Lady's Pictorial'', ''

The Woman's World ''The Woman's World'' was a Victorian women's magazine published by Cassell between 1886 and 1890, edited by Oscar Wilde between 1887 and 1889, and by Ella Hepworth Dixon from 1888. Foundation In the late nineteenth century, the market for per ...

'', the '' Young Woman'', and '' The Echo''. She was for 32 years, from 1886, the 'Ladies'Notes' columnist for the Illustrated London News. Progressing in her career, she was from 1892 editor of two magazines for colonists, ''

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...

'' and ''

Homeward Bound Homeward may refer to: * ''Homeward'' (film), a 2019 film * "Homeward" (song), a song by The Sundays from their 1997 album ''Static and Silence'' * "Homeward" (''TNG'' episode), a ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode from the seventh seaso ...

''. In 1895 she assumed control of and edited ''

'', until 1899 a leading feminist publication. She later wrote for the '' Daily News''. Her output as an author was wide: making use of her medical training, she published from 1878 onwards several books on anatomy, including contributing two books to the Hughes's Natural History Readers series. In 1879 she published a three volume fiction, ''Lynton Abbott's Children''; in 1883 a book on Social Economy, and in 1884 a biography of the writer Harriet Martineau. After she took over ‘Women’s Signal’ as editor, Florence Fenewick Miller changed the publications tagline to “A Weekly Record and Review devoted to the Interests of Women in the Home and in the Wider World.” This therefore allowed Miller to publish information about fashion, motherhood and the home whilst not sacrificing her passion of educating and informing women about the ”progress in the cause of the equal rights and the general advancement of women”. Miller also engaged herself more directly in social reform. She was elected as a Liberal to the Hackney division of the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

in 1876 at the comparatively young age of 22, and held office from 1877–1885. Frederick Rogers, a fellow board member, describes her: Like her predecessor Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Fenewick Miller served whilst getting married and went further to also go through pregnancy and child birth as an elected member.Emma Liggins. (2014). Not an Ordinary “Ladies’ Paper”: Work, Motherhood, and Temperance Rhetoric in the Woman’s Signal. Victorian Periodicals Review. 47 (4), 613-630) She spoke widely on women's suffrage, later in her career acting as an international delegate, notably visiting Chicago in 1893 for the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

and the World's Congress of Representative Women; and again in 1902 as part of the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., with ...

. Her international links brought her into association with leading American suffragists. She resigned from the International Women's Suffrage Committee in 1904. Florence Fenwick Miller dedicated much of her life to the

Women’s suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...

Movement. In 1883 she headed a meeting on what was later known as the “New Reform Bill”. This allowed women to the Parliamentary franchise of the same terms as men. Fenwick Miller gave five lectures all titled, ‘Women’s Work in the World” given in July and August 1883. In the Autumn of that same year she gave further talks, namely “Women and The New Reform Bill’ Miller made an unsuccessful marriage with Frederick Alfred Ford; they had two daughters, Irene (who became a WSPU activist, leading direct action, and was imprisoned several times) and Helen, but separated. L. A. Flammang, in a review of a biography of Miller, notes that Ford contributed little to the family and suggests that, in part, the volume of Miller's output was related to her straitened economic circumstances. Miller continued to use her own name after the marriage (Frederick Rogers noting that she changed it from Miss Fenwick Miller to Mrs. Fenwick Miller), leading to litigation seeking to remove her from her London School Board office for sitting under an illegal name: Miller prevailed, and the case established the precedent that women need not take the surname of their husband. Litigation happened with respect to the school boards. Helen Taylor,

Elizabeth Surr Elizabeth Surr (1820 – 1901) was a British educational reformer. She was successful in getting elected to the London School Board where she led the exposure of mistreatment of children in industrial schools. Early life Surr was born in Rochford ...

and Miller brought to public notice in 1882 certain scandals at St. Paul's Industrial School. The home secretary instituted an inquiry, and the school was ordered to be closed. In June 1882, Thomas Scrutton, a member of the school board and chairman of its industrial schools sub-committee, brought an action for libel against Taylor. Miller died on 24 April 1935 in

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

, Sussex. A biography, ''Florence Fenwick Miller: Victorian Feminist, Journalist and Educator'' written by Rosemary T. Van Arsdel, was published by

Ashgate Publishing Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham ( Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office i ...

in 2001.

Works

*Anatomy **''The House of Life'' (1878) **''An Atlas of Anatomy'' (1879) **''Animal Physiology for Elementary Schools'' (1882) *Social reform **''Readings in Social Economy'' (1883) **''On the Programme of the Women's Franchise League, An Address Delivered at the National Liberal Club, Feb. 25, 1890'' (1890) *Biography **''The Lessons of a Life: Harriet Martineau. A Lecture, Etc'' (1877) **''Harriet Martineau'' (1884) *Fiction **''Lynton Abbott's Children'' (1879, 3 volumes)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Florence 1854 births 1935 deaths English women medical doctors English obstetricians English columnists English magazine editors English women journalists Victorian women writers Victorian writers English suffragists 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British journalists Members of the London School Board Women magazine editors British women columnists

Biography

Works

Further reading

References

External links