The Victoria Press was a printing press started by
Emily Faithfull
Emily Faithfull (27 May 1835 – 31 May 1895) was an English women's rights activist who set up the Victoria Press to publish the '' English Woman's Journal''.
Biography
Emily Faithfull was born on 27 May 1835 at Headley Rectory, Surrey. She w ...
, along with other feminist activists, in London, on March 26, 1860.
The press, named after
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
, was created as a way to allow more women into the printing field. In 1867 management of the press was given by Faithfull to William Wilfred Head, a partner in the press.
Head continued to print pieces advocating for the employment of women until 1882, even after buying Faithfull out in 1869.
History
Faithfull was a member of the
Society for Promoting the Employment of Women
The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women (SPEW) was one of the earliest British women's organisations.
The society was established in 1859 by Jessie Boucherett, Barbara Bodichon and Adelaide Anne Proctor to promote the training and emplo ...
and co-founder of the
Women's Printing Society
The Women's Printing Society was a British publishing house founded in either 1874 or 1876 by Emma Paterson and Emily Faithfull with the company being officially incorporated as a cooperative in 1878.
Involvement in the suffragist movement
The ...
. She was also awarded the honor of being printer and publisher in ordinary to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
, indicating that Faithfull was the official printer and publisher of Queen Victoria. Faithfull was convinced that work as a
compositor could be a well-suited trade for women seeking occupation since by the nineteenth century this was generally a well-paid industry. After learning
type-setting
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random Ho ...
, Faithfull founded the press, and then went on to train and hire other women as compositors for her shop. Despite generating hostility from the male-dominated London Typographical Society (then known as the
London Society of Compositors
The London Society of Compositors was a British trade union, representing print workers in London.
History
The union was founded as the London Union of Compositors in 1834 by the merger of the London Trade Society of Compositors and the Londo ...
), and The Union denying women access to compositor's work (using the justification that women lacked the mechanical ability and the intelligence to be compositors) Faithfull persevered, and her press continued for years.
Publications from Faithfull's press included ''
The English Woman's Journal'' (1858-1864) whose inaugural edition was published by
Matilda Mary Hays and
Bessie Rayner Parkes
Elizabeth Rayner Belloc (; 16 June 1829 – 23 March 1925) was one of the most prominent English feminists and campaigners for women's rights in Victorian times and also a poet, essayist and journalist.
Early life
Bessie Rayner Parkes was b ...
and which promoted the employment of women. In 1863 Faithfull began publication of a monthly periodical called ''The Victoria Magazine'', in which for eighteen years she continuously and earnestly advocated the claims of women to remunerative employment. The Victorian Debating Society was also founded by Faithfull in 1869, supplementing The Victoria Magazine by giving its members a place in which to discuss women’s issues. In 1865 Faithfull began printing another periodical, weekly this time, called ''Women and Work'', which was followed by her other weekly periodical: ''the West London Express'', coming into print in 1877.
The press also printed a weekly newspaper by William Wilfred Head (before he began running the press); Faithfull, however, thought poorly of Head’s newspaper and printed a letter in
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 ...
disassociating herself from Head's publication.
The Victoria Press had two homes over the duration of its time, the first of which was on Coram Street in London. Two years after the press’ opening it moved to Farringdon Street, also in London, and began printing using steam presses.
Beyond the press’ printing of
periodicals
A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a Academic journal, journal ...
and
anthologies
In book publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...
, those who worked at the Victoria Press were advocates for women’s involvement in the workforce. Many of the pieces that the press published promoted the idea of women working in fields such as clock-making, hairdressing, and engraving, along with other male-dominated professions. The press also printed pieces promoting the need for women to have educational opportunities equal to those granted to men and boys.
Despite the multitude of contributors to the press, many pieces were published anonymously, so studying the press’ publications must be viewed as a collaborative effort of feminists of the time. This view of the press as a group project is furthered by the fact that the site of the Victoria Press was viewed, by its contributors, as a meeting place for those fighting for women’s involvement in the workplace.
Henry Houghton credited the Victoria Press with inspiring him to employ women as well as men as compositors at the
Riverside Press
Riverside Insights is a publisher of clinical and educational standardized tests in the United States; it is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It is also a charter member of the Association of Test Publishers.
Riverside Insights was establish ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Defunct companies based in London
Publishing companies established in 1860
1860 establishments in England
Women's organisations based in England