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Trailblazer: The First Feminist to Change Our World
'What a lot we have to thank Barbara Bodichon and her circle for. She was a charismatic but self-effacing woman so she would at the very least have been perplexed by the idea of being a role model. But I can't think of a better one for today.' - Literary Review
'Lively and well researched ... [Bodichon] was a vital cog in the wheel of social change for women. Her energy is contagious.‘ The Times
Jane Robinson is brilliant at putting the women back into history and her biography of Barbara Leigh Bodichon, a Victorian feminist we should all be grateful to, is as entertaining as it is necessary.’ - Daisy Goodwin
You have probably not heard of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon but you certainly should have done.
Name any 'modern' human rights movement, and she was a feminism, equal opportunities, diversity, inclusion, mental health awareness, Black Lives Matter. While her name has been omitted from too many history books, it was Barbara that opened the doors for more famous names to walk through. And her influence owed as much to who she was as to what she people loved her for her robust sense of humour, cheerfulness and indiscriminate acts of kindness.
This is a celebration of the life of the founder of Britain's suffrage campaigner for equal opportunity in the workplace, the law, at home and beyond. Co-founder of Girton, the first university college for women, a committed activist for human rights, fervently anti-slavery, she was also one of Victorian England's finest female painters.
Jane Robinson's brilliant new book shines a light on a remarkable woman who lived on her own terms and to whom we owe a huge debt.
'Lively and well researched ... [Bodichon] was a vital cog in the wheel of social change for women. Her energy is contagious.‘ The Times
Jane Robinson is brilliant at putting the women back into history and her biography of Barbara Leigh Bodichon, a Victorian feminist we should all be grateful to, is as entertaining as it is necessary.’ - Daisy Goodwin
You have probably not heard of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon but you certainly should have done.
Name any 'modern' human rights movement, and she was a feminism, equal opportunities, diversity, inclusion, mental health awareness, Black Lives Matter. While her name has been omitted from too many history books, it was Barbara that opened the doors for more famous names to walk through. And her influence owed as much to who she was as to what she people loved her for her robust sense of humour, cheerfulness and indiscriminate acts of kindness.
This is a celebration of the life of the founder of Britain's suffrage campaigner for equal opportunity in the workplace, the law, at home and beyond. Co-founder of Girton, the first university college for women, a committed activist for human rights, fervently anti-slavery, she was also one of Victorian England's finest female painters.
Jane Robinson's brilliant new book shines a light on a remarkable woman who lived on her own terms and to whom we owe a huge debt.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
399 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 22, 2024
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129 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 3, 2025
Few know of the extraordinary Barbara “Bar” Leigh Smith Bodichon, probably because although she was the driving force behind many feminist and other social advances, as well as being a successful artist, her name isn’t tied to one specific thing. She paved ways and built and opened doors, but wasn’t first through them.
She was born to wealth and radical intellectual circles, but her privilege was potentially limited by the fact she was illegitimate. Her whole life, 1827-1892, was under Queen Victoria. “The Pater” was open about his large family, but resolutely refused to marry his children’s mother (nor the mother of his other children), yet was a successful Whig politician.
Connections
Bar was closely connected to almost every famous and influential figure in arts and politics of the time. It makes it hard to record her life in a clear way as famous names keep coming and going, including: George Eliot (closest friend; Romola is based on Bar), Florence Nightingale (cousin), Byron, Emeline Pankhurst, Dickens, Darwin, Ruskin, Manet, Arthur Conan Doyle, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Rousseau, Millicent Fawcett, and many more. The book has an index as well as this diagram:
Image: Network diagram of Bar’s connections
Causes
Like her father, grandfather, and most of her siblings, Bar always called out injustice. Education, equality, and empowerment were fundamental to her work.
Aged 21, she wrote to the Birmingham Journal in May 1848 about the good one can do “at little cost” by buying and lending cheap books:
“Think! And resolve never to let dust be on your books; it is as great a reproach as the dust which the Apostles shook from their feet,”
Bar abandoned corsets, raised her skirts, and seems always to have been busy. She travelled abroad as a single woman, campaigned about the gender pay gap (though not using that phrase), that married women should be able to own property, the problems of abusive marriages, and the stigma of illegitimacy. She promoted penal reform, public health and mental health support, and making exercise (including public swimming) accessible to women and girls. She published the English Woman’s Journal (much of it educational, including money, budgeting, and women’s health), including a free library, ran a free school for girls, strove to professionalise teaching (not mere governesses), and co-founded the first women’s college in Cambridge. She even promoted decimal coinage, which didn’t happen until 1971.
Image: Bar’s cartoon of her and friends shoo-ing a bull away with paintbrushes
Social suffrage (being free to choose whether or not to work), and, of course, votes for women, were paramount: she was the driving force behind the literal cut-and-paste of a 1,499 signature petition that eventually led to the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which gave women the vote. Not that she would have benefitted: having married a Frenchman, she was a French citizen (though she never lived there).
Bar also supported the Female Middle Class Emigration Society, which was apparently more about opportunities for surplus women than empire-building.
She used her own money to support most of these, and proudly distinguished between what she earned herself (mainly from painting) and what she inherited. She also helped in practical ways, such as paying for childcare and patent registrations for Hertha Ayrton, a protégée, scientist, and quasi-adopted daughter.
Artist
Despite her many achievements, Bar identified primarily as an artist - and was one of the first women to exhibit at the Royal Academy
“Most people like a touching story told badly by painting better than the inside of a dead ox painted by Rembrandt… I do not.”
Image: Chateau Gaillard on the Seine, painted by Bar in 1870, now at Girton College (Source)
Dr Eugene Bodichon
A man deserving his own biography, Bar met Eugene in Algiers. He was 17 years older than her, a renowned eccentric, as well as an ethnologist, and probably autistic. He was a creationist who also believed humans could engineer the natural world to better suit them.
She barely spoke French and he barely spoke English, but they married quickly, although the Pater insisted on a lengthy prenup. Thereafter, she mostly spent half of each year in Algeria with him and half in England (only sometimes with him).
Together, they visited the US to campaign against slavery and in favour of racial mixing. Robinson defends them against possible accusations of being white saviours because they wanted to improve things for everyone.
Image: Bar’s treasured drawing of a lily that Eugene picked for her
Talk versus book
I attended a talk that Jane Robinson gave about Bar. It was brilliant. I later realised she started by reading the introduction to this book, which really conjured excitement and atmosphere. However, the book continues in a chatty and enthusiastic tone that works less well on the page, imo: little asides, like “we shall come to that”. She also switches tenses for no clear reason and admits to writing significant scenes from her imagination. But there’s the occasional gem:
“Historically, ‘milliner's apprentice’ was a common euphemism for ‘prostitute’, which says more about the vulgar concept of a young woman working for a living than about the immorality of making hats.”
See also
Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, which I reviewed HERE. A lot of its focus is on women’s education, including at Cambridge, and Bar was the co-founder (with Emily Davies) of Girton, the first college to admit women at Cambridge.
She was born to wealth and radical intellectual circles, but her privilege was potentially limited by the fact she was illegitimate. Her whole life, 1827-1892, was under Queen Victoria. “The Pater” was open about his large family, but resolutely refused to marry his children’s mother (nor the mother of his other children), yet was a successful Whig politician.
Connections
Bar was closely connected to almost every famous and influential figure in arts and politics of the time. It makes it hard to record her life in a clear way as famous names keep coming and going, including: George Eliot (closest friend; Romola is based on Bar), Florence Nightingale (cousin), Byron, Emeline Pankhurst, Dickens, Darwin, Ruskin, Manet, Arthur Conan Doyle, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Rousseau, Millicent Fawcett, and many more. The book has an index as well as this diagram:
Image: Network diagram of Bar’s connections
Causes
Like her father, grandfather, and most of her siblings, Bar always called out injustice. Education, equality, and empowerment were fundamental to her work.
Aged 21, she wrote to the Birmingham Journal in May 1848 about the good one can do “at little cost” by buying and lending cheap books:
“Think! And resolve never to let dust be on your books; it is as great a reproach as the dust which the Apostles shook from their feet,”
Bar abandoned corsets, raised her skirts, and seems always to have been busy. She travelled abroad as a single woman, campaigned about the gender pay gap (though not using that phrase), that married women should be able to own property, the problems of abusive marriages, and the stigma of illegitimacy. She promoted penal reform, public health and mental health support, and making exercise (including public swimming) accessible to women and girls. She published the English Woman’s Journal (much of it educational, including money, budgeting, and women’s health), including a free library, ran a free school for girls, strove to professionalise teaching (not mere governesses), and co-founded the first women’s college in Cambridge. She even promoted decimal coinage, which didn’t happen until 1971.
Image: Bar’s cartoon of her and friends shoo-ing a bull away with paintbrushes
Social suffrage (being free to choose whether or not to work), and, of course, votes for women, were paramount: she was the driving force behind the literal cut-and-paste of a 1,499 signature petition that eventually led to the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which gave women the vote. Not that she would have benefitted: having married a Frenchman, she was a French citizen (though she never lived there).
Bar also supported the Female Middle Class Emigration Society, which was apparently more about opportunities for surplus women than empire-building.
She used her own money to support most of these, and proudly distinguished between what she earned herself (mainly from painting) and what she inherited. She also helped in practical ways, such as paying for childcare and patent registrations for Hertha Ayrton, a protégée, scientist, and quasi-adopted daughter.
Artist
Despite her many achievements, Bar identified primarily as an artist - and was one of the first women to exhibit at the Royal Academy
“Most people like a touching story told badly by painting better than the inside of a dead ox painted by Rembrandt… I do not.”
Image: Chateau Gaillard on the Seine, painted by Bar in 1870, now at Girton College (Source)
Dr Eugene Bodichon
A man deserving his own biography, Bar met Eugene in Algiers. He was 17 years older than her, a renowned eccentric, as well as an ethnologist, and probably autistic. He was a creationist who also believed humans could engineer the natural world to better suit them.
She barely spoke French and he barely spoke English, but they married quickly, although the Pater insisted on a lengthy prenup. Thereafter, she mostly spent half of each year in Algeria with him and half in England (only sometimes with him).
Together, they visited the US to campaign against slavery and in favour of racial mixing. Robinson defends them against possible accusations of being white saviours because they wanted to improve things for everyone.
Image: Bar’s treasured drawing of a lily that Eugene picked for her
Talk versus book
I attended a talk that Jane Robinson gave about Bar. It was brilliant. I later realised she started by reading the introduction to this book, which really conjured excitement and atmosphere. However, the book continues in a chatty and enthusiastic tone that works less well on the page, imo: little asides, like “we shall come to that”. She also switches tenses for no clear reason and admits to writing significant scenes from her imagination. But there’s the occasional gem:
“Historically, ‘milliner's apprentice’ was a common euphemism for ‘prostitute’, which says more about the vulgar concept of a young woman working for a living than about the immorality of making hats.”
See also
Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, which I reviewed HERE. A lot of its focus is on women’s education, including at Cambridge, and Bar was the co-founder (with Emily Davies) of Girton, the first college to admit women at Cambridge.
June 3, 2025
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon should be better known than she is. She was fundamental to the beginning of the campaign for women's votes in the UK. She was an artist in her own right. She was a co-founder of Girton college and a number of other educational establishments for women including what is now Royal Holloway where there is a plaque in her memory. She supported countless children (of both sexes) through education and beyond. And my goodness, she knew EVERYONE (Mary Ann Evans aka George Eliot was her BFF)- hence her influence. Why isn't she better known? Jane Robinson's convincing argument is that she simply did too much of too many things, and that she liked to enable rather than star.
This is a really great and highly readable biography. It's one of those books that makes you want to know the subject, to have coffee with her, or better still dinner. Barbara is a highly original woman, illegitimate at a time when that was a huge stigma, with an unconventional upbringing, she was big in spirit, apparently a big presence (as in charismatic, though she didn't wear stays, so big in Victorian eyes) and one of those people that as soon as she walked into a room drew all attention to herself. She married a Frenchman who took eccentricity to a new level (he liked to wander around naked) and to her grief never had any children of her own. But she was, in her relatively short life much loved, and she made a huge difference to those close to her.
I really enjoyed this. And to add to my enjoyment were a couple of those historical research coincidences that I love too. I'm currently writing a heroine who is a landscape artist, partly inspired by the real life early female pioneer Gertrude Jeckyll - who Barbara knew, and who helped her with the design of the gardens at Girton and at her own house, Scalands. And another of Barbara's closest friends was Elizabeth Blackwell, the first British woman to qualify as a doctor (in the US, they wouldn't acknowledge her in the UK). I first came across her in Kilmun graveyard, where she is buried, in the same place as my own grandparents, next to the church where my sister was married.
Highly recommended if you like a bio that touches many lives, of someone who should be known more, and who you'd definitely have to dinner.
This is a really great and highly readable biography. It's one of those books that makes you want to know the subject, to have coffee with her, or better still dinner. Barbara is a highly original woman, illegitimate at a time when that was a huge stigma, with an unconventional upbringing, she was big in spirit, apparently a big presence (as in charismatic, though she didn't wear stays, so big in Victorian eyes) and one of those people that as soon as she walked into a room drew all attention to herself. She married a Frenchman who took eccentricity to a new level (he liked to wander around naked) and to her grief never had any children of her own. But she was, in her relatively short life much loved, and she made a huge difference to those close to her.
I really enjoyed this. And to add to my enjoyment were a couple of those historical research coincidences that I love too. I'm currently writing a heroine who is a landscape artist, partly inspired by the real life early female pioneer Gertrude Jeckyll - who Barbara knew, and who helped her with the design of the gardens at Girton and at her own house, Scalands. And another of Barbara's closest friends was Elizabeth Blackwell, the first British woman to qualify as a doctor (in the US, they wouldn't acknowledge her in the UK). I first came across her in Kilmun graveyard, where she is buried, in the same place as my own grandparents, next to the church where my sister was married.
Highly recommended if you like a bio that touches many lives, of someone who should be known more, and who you'd definitely have to dinner.
February 29, 2024
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon is not a well-known name, even here in the UK. Yet, she was a nineteenth century pioneer, a trailblazer who supported feminism, equal opportunities, diversity, inclusion, mental health awareness, & opposed slavery, & the consigning of women to the home. Barbara was also artistic, she wrote, drew, & painted throughout her life & was friends with some of the most well-known names of the time including Marian Evans (George Eliot), Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, & Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
This was a well-written & meticulously researched book, & there's a lot of information packed within these pages but I found it a bit of a struggle to wade through at times. I'm not entirely sure why. I did find it worth reading though as it introduced me to names I had never heard of before (& I spent a bit of time looking them up), her unconventional upbringing was interesting, & it was especially nice to see my childhood home county (Derbyshire) mentioned several times. Overall, it was an informative read but something about it made it a bit of a slog at times. 3.5 stars (rounded down).
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Random House UK/Transworld Publishers/Doubleday, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
This was a well-written & meticulously researched book, & there's a lot of information packed within these pages but I found it a bit of a struggle to wade through at times. I'm not entirely sure why. I did find it worth reading though as it introduced me to names I had never heard of before (& I spent a bit of time looking them up), her unconventional upbringing was interesting, & it was especially nice to see my childhood home county (Derbyshire) mentioned several times. Overall, it was an informative read but something about it made it a bit of a slog at times. 3.5 stars (rounded down).
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Random House UK/Transworld Publishers/Doubleday, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
January 20, 2024
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon was quite a woman--suffragist, abolitionist, law reformer, co-founder of Girton College, artist, activist. She was Florence Nightingale's cousin and a dear friend of George Eliot and others whose names are well known today. But she is not that well known. Why? Jane Robinson considers some possibilities--the stigma of being a child of an unmarried couple, her unconventional upbringing and family life, both as a child and later as an adult, her eccentricities, her lifestyle. Whatever the reasons, this book is a welcome remedy to the lack of knowledge about this remarkable woman and all she accomplished, both at a societal and personal level. As both a biographer and a social historian, Robinson looks at Bodichon's life through both lenses and writes a compelling, enjoyable, informative biography. She does a fine job of giving readers a sense of who Barbara Bodichon was, what shaped her, and what her world was like, even with limited resources. There simply isn't as much information about her as there is for some other activist women of the time. This is partly because Bodichon herself was intensely private in some ways. In places, Robinson adds some of her own speculation and paraphrased random quotes, but she is always very clear about explaining why and where she is doing this and this adds to the narrative in my view.
I loved this book. It's a great read and an important contribution to women's social history. I learned a lot and came away with some things to think about. Highly recommend.
I loved this book. It's a great read and an important contribution to women's social history. I learned a lot and came away with some things to think about. Highly recommend.
July 6, 2024
An Inspiring Woman
Had never heard of Barbara before reading this book - and I thought I knew a lot about Victorian feminists! What an inspiring personality. I felt exhausted just reading about the many things she did to improve the lived of others. I find Jane Robinson easy to read and her research adds depth to a fascinating story. This was a Book Club read and the whole group found themselves gripped by the story of Harvard's life.
Had never heard of Barbara before reading this book - and I thought I knew a lot about Victorian feminists! What an inspiring personality. I felt exhausted just reading about the many things she did to improve the lived of others. I find Jane Robinson easy to read and her research adds depth to a fascinating story. This was a Book Club read and the whole group found themselves gripped by the story of Harvard's life.
March 8, 2024
Uncorseted and Undetered
I was very lucky to receive an ARC of Trailblazer by Jane Robinson from the publisher and waited for today, International Women’s Day, to post my review as it seemed very fitting. This is a factual book about the life of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon who most people have not heard of (myself included) but should know about. In this remarkable and captivating book the author tells the story of Barbara who was a feminist, activist, campaigner and pioneer of the 1800’s. Peppered with links to other famous and more widely known people of the time, Barbara has remained largely unknown until now. With her drive towards (amongst others) equal opportunities and rights for women in the worlds of education, teaching, voting, working and marriage she help to shape where women are in society today in the UK and strive to be in the future.
I am not usually drawn to factual books but this was interesting, attention holding and very informative. The author has done an incredible job in her thorough research of this progressive woman and hopefully helped to shine a light on her and her achievements. I recommend this book to readers interested in Victorian history, particularly women’s rights, suffrage, education, mental health, human rights and friendships.
I was very lucky to receive an ARC of Trailblazer by Jane Robinson from the publisher and waited for today, International Women’s Day, to post my review as it seemed very fitting. This is a factual book about the life of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon who most people have not heard of (myself included) but should know about. In this remarkable and captivating book the author tells the story of Barbara who was a feminist, activist, campaigner and pioneer of the 1800’s. Peppered with links to other famous and more widely known people of the time, Barbara has remained largely unknown until now. With her drive towards (amongst others) equal opportunities and rights for women in the worlds of education, teaching, voting, working and marriage she help to shape where women are in society today in the UK and strive to be in the future.
I am not usually drawn to factual books but this was interesting, attention holding and very informative. The author has done an incredible job in her thorough research of this progressive woman and hopefully helped to shine a light on her and her achievements. I recommend this book to readers interested in Victorian history, particularly women’s rights, suffrage, education, mental health, human rights and friendships.
April 5, 2024
The book focuses on the story of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon - a little known pioneer of feminism and human rights in the UK.
I had never heard of Barbara before reading the book and I was really interested to know about her story and her life. I was surprised to learn that she had been friends with many well known figures in history yet she seemed to have been consigned to obscurity.
The author had clearly put a lot of research into this book - it was really informative. Unfortunately this did make it quite dense to read. It’s not an easy read and it took some perseverance for me to keep going at times.
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon had clearly lived an interesting life and this was fascinating but I did think that so much detail wasn’t always necessary.
Im glad I read it, I’m glad I now know who Barbara was and the important role she played but this wasn’t the easiest of read
I had never heard of Barbara before reading the book and I was really interested to know about her story and her life. I was surprised to learn that she had been friends with many well known figures in history yet she seemed to have been consigned to obscurity.
The author had clearly put a lot of research into this book - it was really informative. Unfortunately this did make it quite dense to read. It’s not an easy read and it took some perseverance for me to keep going at times.
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon had clearly lived an interesting life and this was fascinating but I did think that so much detail wasn’t always necessary.
Im glad I read it, I’m glad I now know who Barbara was and the important role she played but this wasn’t the easiest of read
March 26, 2024
An amazing read!
Having never heard of Barbara I thought this would be an intesrteing read to pick up and I was right. This was both an interesting and thorough read and you can tell then author did her research before writing this. I liked how deep she went into Barbaras life and the many facets of this woman we see while devouring this book.
I feel like I learnt a lot with this novel, I went on to do a bit of my own research and was amazed and the amount of history we are not taught in school that is both intriguing and pivotal. Jane did an amazing job of highlighting all of Bodichons achievements and struggles that she went through in her life while also showing us a peek of the past. Would definitely recommend to any history lovers out there.
Having never heard of Barbara I thought this would be an intesrteing read to pick up and I was right. This was both an interesting and thorough read and you can tell then author did her research before writing this. I liked how deep she went into Barbaras life and the many facets of this woman we see while devouring this book.
I feel like I learnt a lot with this novel, I went on to do a bit of my own research and was amazed and the amount of history we are not taught in school that is both intriguing and pivotal. Jane did an amazing job of highlighting all of Bodichons achievements and struggles that she went through in her life while also showing us a peek of the past. Would definitely recommend to any history lovers out there.
February 22, 2024
This was not for me and i'm unsure if it was the writing style or the topic.
Trailblazer seems to be about a women who maybe should known but who based on this reading only seems to have started a lot of things but never saw anything through. She seems to be someone who appears in lots of places but is this just because she knows lots of famous please? It seemed to me like a long list of all the things she sort of did but with lots of naming dropping along the way.
Not for me.
Trailblazer seems to be about a women who maybe should known but who based on this reading only seems to have started a lot of things but never saw anything through. She seems to be someone who appears in lots of places but is this just because she knows lots of famous please? It seemed to me like a long list of all the things she sort of did but with lots of naming dropping along the way.
Not for me.
March 17, 2024
I was lucky to receive a proof copy of this from the publisher. Although she achieved so much in life and helped to change the world for many, most of us have never heard of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. Robinson's biography is a marvellously engaging work that highlights Bar's achievements and her amazing life. She was in a web connected to so many notable people that I must have come across her name before in other biographies. It's only right that she's now brought to the fore.
May 2, 2024
Here is, seemingly, a really interesting woman whose biography is so turgid and drags on and on. Sadly, this either needed a bloody good editor or a much better writer to do justice to the subject.
May 18, 2024
Revelatory account of one of the most important figures in Victorian Britain. I found the book a little bit of a hagiography and the pacing a bit uneven but I enjoyed it very much and learned a huge amount
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews