Helen Blackburn

Helen Blackburn (25 May 1842 – 11 January 1903) was a feminist, writer and campaigner for women's rights, especially in the field of employment. Blackburn was an editor of the Englishwoman's Review magazine. She wrote books about women workers and a history of the women's suffrage movement in Britain and Ireland which became the "standard work". She served as secretary of the National Society for Women's Suffrage and the West of England Suffrage Society, and co-founded the Freedom of Labour Defence League. Her name appears on the plinth of the Millicent Fawcett statue in Parliament Square.

Early life Blackburn was born in Knightstown, Valentia Island, County Kerry, Ireland on 25 May 1842. They also together edited The Condition of Working Women and the Factory Acts, 1896.

Blackburn joined the National Society for Women's Suffrage in 1872 and was secretary of the executive committee of the society from 1874 to 1880. She subsequently held similar positions in a number of related organisations. In 1880 Blackburn was secretary of the West of England Suffrage Society in Bristol and was the main organizer of a large demonstration. She edited the Women's Suffrage Calendar in 1896 and 1897. In the early 1890s, she assisted Charlotte Carmichael Stopes in her writing of British Freewomen: Their Historical Privilege by supplying her own notes on the subject, then by purchasing the whole of the first edition in 1894. She scaled down her work in 1895 to care for her aged father until his death, then resumed her work. Her second collection was focused on a book collection by women. The books were from her collection, friends and from second hand sources. Bookplates were commissioned and two bookcases. The bookcases were decorated with paintings of Lydia Becker and Caroline Ashurst Biggs who had been the previous chairs of the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage. These bookcases were given to Girton College and are extant. The book was noted for its accuracy, but the Economic Journal recognised its authors as Freedom of Labour Defence members and suspected that it may have political motives arguing for the "equality of men and women".

Death and legacy Blackburn died aged 60 at her home in Greycoat Gardens, Westminster, London on 11 January 1903 and was buried at Brompton Cemetery in London. She left her archives, and the decorated book collection, to Girton College, Cambridge.

Works Blackburn's books include: A Handbook for Women Engaged in Social and Political Work, 1881. A Handy Book of Reference for Irishwomen, 1888. The Condition of Working Women and the Factory Acts, editor with Jessie Boucherett, 1896. Women under the Factory Acts, written with Nora Vynne, 1903. Women's suffrage: a record of the women's suffrage movement in the British Isles, with biographical sketches of Miss Becker, 1902.