''A Father's Legacy to his Daughters'' is a book, written by Dr John Gregory (1724 – 1773),

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

physician,

medical writer A medical writer, also referred to as medical communicator, is a person who applies the principles of clinical research in developing clinical trial documents that effectively and clearly describe research results, product use, and other medical i ...

and moralist. Dr Gregory wrote ''A Father's Legacy to his Daughters'' after the death of his wife in 1761, in order to honour her memory and record her thoughts on

female education Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

. He meant to give the text to his daughters. His son James had it published in 1774; a year following Gregory's death. It became a best-seller, going through many editions and translations. In writing this work, Gregory would have been influenced by the celebrated

Bluestocking ''Bluestocking'' (also spaced blue-stocking or blue stockings) is a Pejorative, derogatory term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic El ...

Elizabeth Montagu Elizabeth Montagu (née Robinson; 2 October 1718 – 25 August 1800) was a British social reformer, patron of the arts, salonnière, literary critic and writer, who helped to organize and lead the Blue Stockings Society. Her parents were bot ...

. He and his daughters had toured Scotland with Montagu in 1766 and on their return Montago asked that his daughters might stay longer at her home in Northumberland. Montagu considered the daughter's education on philosophy to be simple and Dr Gregory requested that Montagu should draw up a plan for their education. Dorothea would return in about 1870 to be Montagu's companion for ten years and this only ended when Montagu decided to choose her husband. ''A Father's Legacy to His Daughters'' advises parents and women on religion, moral conduct, friendship and interactions with men, with a focus on marriage. He suggested that women should refrain from exposing any learning that they might have, as this would damage their ability to attract a husband.

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft ( , ; 27 April 175910 September 1797) was an English writer and philosopher best known for her advocacy of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional ...

would later attack these principles in ''

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ''A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects'' , is a 1792 feminist essay written by British philosopher and women's rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), and is one of the earliest work ...

'' (1792), arguing that Gregory's advice amounted to nothing more than

deceit Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deceit ...

on the part of women. This book was imported to America, where it also went through several editions and reprints. There was an 1801 edition printed by Warner and Hanna for John Conrad and Company, which was published in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. While the original text states that "... a woman in this country has very little probability for marrying for love", a footnote in this edition contains commentary on this, which states that "These observations are happily inapplicable in America, although perfectly just in Great Britain."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Father's Legacy To His Daughters, A 1774 non-fiction books History of women in the United Kingdom Books published posthumously Women and education Fatherhood Women's education in the United Kingdom