Best known work

• The Education and Employment of Women, 1868

Other well known work(s)

• Catherine of Siena, 1878
• "Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade", 1896
• Native Races and the War, 1900

Genres

• Politics / Philosophy / Essays
• Biography / Autobiography

Nom de plume

Josephine Elizabeth Butler, Josephine Elizabeth Grey

Social class

Upper class

Parental background

Descended from aristocracy but "distanced herself from fashionable society, preferring to identify herself as a member of the provincial middle classes" (Judith R. Walkowitz, ODNB)

At publication of best known work

• Age: 40
• Marital status: Married
• Number of children: 2

Physical description

Judith Walkowitz describes her as "Beautiful and histrionic, meticulously dressed and coiffed" (ODNB) which confirms the opinion in A Review of Reviews Vol 35 "Personally she was very beautiful and of a gracious presence. […] She dressed with great taste and simplicity" (Mar 1907). In an undated issue of The Woman at Home: Annie S. Swan's Magazine she is described as "the tall figure with the calm, spirituelle face".

Did you know?

Butler campaigned tirelessly on women's issues and was instrumental in bringing about changes to the right to education, the right to vote, treatment of prostitutes and raising the age of consent from 13 to 16. Along with her husband George, they welcomed disadvantaged women into their own home, providing refuge and care to those most in need.

Additional information

The Josephine Butler Memorial Trust gives a brief introduction to Butler's life. Josephine E Butler: An Autobiographical Memoir can be found via Internet Archive.