The Women's Printing Society was a British

publishing house 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 works, such as books, newsp ...

founded in either 1874 or 1876 by Emma Paterson and

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 ...

with the company being officially incorporated as a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

in 1878.

Involvement in the suffragist movement

The company played an important role in British suffrage movement, both through its publication of feminist tracts and in providing employment opportunities for women in a field that had previously been restricted to men. The house was set up to allow women to learn the trade of printing, and provided an apprenticeship program. Women worked as compositors, and as of 1904, it was one of the few houses where they also did the imposing: ordering the galley proofs so that when folded, the front and back pages aligned properly. As of 1899, the company employed 22 women as compositors. The manager, proof-reader and bookkeeper were also women. Men held the tasks of "pressmen and feeders". The women apprentices earned a wage "considering the hours (9 to 6.30), etc., this is better pay than even highly-educated women can sometimes secure." Some of the initial employees came from Faithful's

Victoria Press The Victoria Press was a printing press started by Emily Faithfull, along with other feminist activists, in London, on March 26, 1860. The press, named after Queen Victoria, was created as a way to allow more women into the printing field. In 1867 ...

Notable employees

The Board of Directors included Sarah Prideaux, Mabel Winkworth and

Stewart Duckworth Headlam Stewart Duckworth Headlam (1847–1924) was an English Anglicanism, Anglican priest who was involved in frequent controversy in the final decades of the nineteenth century. Headlam was a pioneer and publicist of Christian socialism, on which he w ...

Elizabeth Yeats Elizabeth Corbet Yeats (11 March 1868 – 16 January 1940), known as Lolly, was an Anglo-Irish educator and publisher. She worked as an art teacher and published several books on art, and was a founder of Dun Emer Press which published several wor ...

studied for a brief time at the Women's Printing Society, before returning to Ireland and starting the

Dun Emer Press The Dun Emer Press (''fl.'' 1902–1908) was an Irish private press founded in 1902 by Evelyn Gleeson, Elizabeth Yeats and her brother William Butler Yeats, part of the Celtic Revival. It was named after the legendary Emer and evolved into the Cu ...

. Up to 1893 and between 1889 and 1900, the company published the reports of the Central Committee for the

National Society for Women's Suffrage The National Society for Women's Suffrage Manchester Branch The National Society for Women's Suffrage was the first national group in the United Kingdom to campaign for women's right to vote. Formed on 6 November 1867, by Lydia Becker, the organ ...

. It published the ''

Women's Penny Paper ''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 t ...

'' through 1890, but it is not recorded why the relationship ended.

Selected works

Works published by the Women's Printing Society include: *"What is women's suffrage and why do women want it" by Veritas (1883) *''

A Woman's Plea to Women A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

'' by

Elizabeth Clarke Wolstenholme Elmy Elizabeth Clarke Wolstenholme-Elmy (died 12 March 1918) was a life-long campaigner and organiser, significant in the history of women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. She wrote essays and some poetry, using the pseudonyms E and Ignota. Early ...

(reprint from ''Macclesfield Courier'') (1886) *"Home Politics: An Address"

Millicent Garrett Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for women's suffrage by legal change and in 1897–1919 led Britain's largest women's rights associati ...

(1894) *"Swimming and its relation to the Health of Women"

Frances Hoggan Frances Elizabeth Hoggan (''née'' Morgan; 20 December 1843 – 5 February 1927) was a Welsh doctor and the first British woman to receive a doctorate in medicine from any university in Europe. She was also a pioneering medical practitioner, rese ...

(1879) *"Education of Girls in Wales" Frances Hoggan (1879) *"Women in India and the Duty of their English Sisters" Mrs. Martindale (1896) *''Thomas Wilde Powell'' Christiana Herringham (1903) *''Papers of the Society of Painters in Tempera'' by Christina Herringham. *''Woman Suffrage and the Anti-militants'' by

Ennis Richmond Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,2 ...

*"Choose, Ye: Darkness or Light!"

Lady Melville Sarah Melville, Lady Melville (1884 or 1885 – 19 October 1974) was a British political activist. Born Sarah Tugander, she met Conservative Party politician Bonar Law in 1907 and became his private secretary. She continued in post until 1916 ...

(1922) *the exhibition catalog of the

London International Surrealist Exhibition The International Surrealist Exhibition was held from 11 June to 4 July 1936 at the New Burlington Galleries, near Savile Row in London's Mayfair, England. Organisers The exhibition was organised by committees from England, France, Belgium, Sca ...

(1936)

References

{{Reflist Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom Publishing companies of the United Kingdom Co-operatives in the United Kingdom