Janet Elizabeth Courtney (born

Barton-upon-Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is s ...

, 27 November 1865; died London, 24 September 1954) was an English scholar, writer and feminist.

Early life

She was a daughter of the Revd George Hogarth and Jane Elizabeth Uppleby; sister of the archaeologist

David George Hogarth David George Hogarth (23 May 1862 – 6 November 1927), also known as D. G. Hogarth, was a British archaeologist and scholar associated with T. E. Lawrence and Arthur Evans. He was Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford from 1909 to 1927. Hog ...

. She was educated at

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

, 1885-1888 and was awarded a first class degree in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. Philosophy was still a male-dominated subject when Hogarth wished to study it, so that she was forced to petition the men's lecture courses for access.

Benjamin Jowett Benjamin Jowett (, modern variant ; 15 April 1817 – 1 October 1893) was an English tutor and administrative reformer in the University of Oxford, a theologian, an Anglican cleric, and a translator of Plato and Thucydides. He was Master of Bal ...

agreed to allow her to join classes at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where she joined lectures on the

pre-Socratics Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of thes ...

given by

Richard Lewis Nettleship Richard Lewis Nettleship (17 December 1846 – 25 August 1892) was an English philosopher. Life The youngest brother of Henry Nettleship, he was educated at Uppingham and Balliol College, Oxford, where he held a scholarship. He won the Hertford ...

. She had to sit at the High Table, away from the audience of male undergraduates, and was sometimes accompanied by

Elizabeth Wordsworth Dame Elizabeth Wordsworth (1840–1932) was founding Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and she funded and founded St Hugh's College. She was also an author, sometimes writing under the name Grant Lloyd. Life Wordsworth was born in 18 ...

as a chaperone, who could be heard disagreeing with the lecturer. Following the Nettleship lecturers New College gave permission for Hogarth to attend lectures on

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

given by

William Leonard Courtney William Leonard Courtney (1850 – 1 November 1928) was an English (people), English author, philosopher and journalist whose 38-year career encompassed work on the ''Daily Telegraph'' and ''Fortnightly Review''. Early life and education C ...

, who would support her education by interceding with other lectures on her behalf, and later become her husband.

Professional life

She first had a part-time teaching post at

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to pr ...

, then worked as a clerk for the

Royal Commission on Labour The Royal Commission on Labour (or the Whitley Commission on Labour) was a Royal Commission set up in 1929 to investigate the working conditions on plantations in India. The commission The Commission was chaired by John Henry Whitley. The comm ...

, 1892–94; was the first superintendent of women clerks of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

, 1894-1906; Librarian of

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

Book Club, 1906-1910; and on the editorial staff of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'' 1906-1914 and 1920-22. She was joint-editor for indexing of the 11th and 12th editions and contributed 700 of the shorter

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

for the former and signed articles on women to the latter. In 1911 she married

, editor of the ''

Fortnightly Review ''The Fortnightly Review'' was one of the most prominent and influential magazines in nineteenth-century England. It was founded in 1865 by Anthony Trollope, Frederic Harrison, Edward Spencer Beesly, and six others with an investment of £9,000; ...

'' and chief dramatic critic and literary editor of the ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

''. She was adviser on staff welfare to the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis of ...

1916-1917 and in the latter year was awarded an OBE. She was also a JP. She was a board member of the executive committee of the

Carnegie United Kingdom Trust The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust is an independent, endowed charitable trust based in Scotland that operates throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Originally established with an endowment from Andrew Carnegie in his birthplace of Dunfermline ...

from 1913. Following the death of her husband in 1928 she became acting editor of the

from November 1928 to June 1929. She was the author of a number of books of aspects of feminism as well as several volumes of reminiscences that contain valuable insights into her working life at the

, ''

'' and the ''

''.

Written works

As Janet Hogarth *''The Modern French Drama. Seven essays ...'' 1898, Translated by J. E. Hogarth. * ''The Woman's Library'' 1903 In Vol. 1. "Education and professions: The higher education of women" As Janet E. Courtney *''Pillars of Empire'' (with W. L. Courtney), 1918 *''Freethinkers of the nineteenth century'', 1920 *''The making of an editor'', 1930 (A biography of her husband) *''Recollected in Tranquility'', 1930 *''An Oxford Portrait Gallery'', 1931 *''Countrywomen in Council'', 1933 ( A study of the Women's Institutes) *''The Adventurous Thirties'', 1933 (Prominent women of the 1830s) *''The Women of my Time'', 1934 *''Simple Annals'', 1936

References

* ''Who was Who'', 1951–60, p 246 *

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

on-line catalogue. * G. Thomas, ''A Position to Command Respect:women and the eleventh Britannica'', (1992) * Gillian Thomas, Hogarth, Janet Elizabeth (1865-1954),

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 ...

, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtney, Janet Elizabeth 1865 births 1954 deaths English non-fiction writers Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford People from Barton-upon-Humber Officers of the Order of the British Empire English justices of the peace