Best known work

• The Capacity of Woman, 1887

Other well known work(s)

• Primitive Civilizations, 1894
• Autobiography of a Shirtmaker (published posthumously), 1998
• Natural Law: An Essay in Ethics, 1877
• Episodes in the Lives of Men, Women, and Lovers, 1882

Genres

• Fiction - Short Stories
• Journalism
• Biography / Autobiography
• Politics / Philosophy / Essays

Nom de plume

Edith Jemima Simcox, H. Lawrenny

Social class

Middle class

Parental background

Father, George Price Simcox, was a Kidderminster carpet and rug manufacturer, and her mother’s marriage settlement was £5,000. Her two brothers graduated from Oxford, were scholars, and guided her education.

At publication of best known work

• Age: 43
• Marital status: Unmarried
• Number of children: 0

Physical description

Gillian Beer in “Knowing a Life: Edith Simcox - Sat est vixisse?” said that she was “small, dark, bespectacled…. She probably smelled quite strong, with her prodigious walks through London and her heavy clothing".

Did you know?

Between 1860 and 1899 she reviewed hundreds of books and wrote over two hundred essays in Academy, Fortnightly Review, Fraser’s, Contemporary Review, Nineteenth Century, Portfolio, Longman’s, Macmillan’s, North British Review, Saint Paul’s, Co-Operative News, Labour Tribune, London Times, To-Day, Manchester Guardian, and Women’s Union Journal (Ayres 53). She also wrote short stories, as well as three books.

Additional information

Constance Fulmer and Margaret Barfield host a site dedicated to Simcox via Pepperdine University. Excerpts and articles by Simcox are available on Project Muse and Google Books.