Jane Strachey

Jane Maria Strachey, Lady Strachey (née Grant; 13 March 1840 – 14 December 1928) was an English suffragist and writer. Her father was a British colonial administrator; Jane married her father's secretary, Sir Richard Strachey, and ten of their children survived into adulthood. She was an outspoken advocate for the right of women to vote, and involved her daughters in her campaigning. She wrote two books for children.

Early life

Lady Strachey was born on the ship Earl of Hardwicke off the coast of Cape of Good Hope on 13 March 1840.

Lady Strachey also published two children's books, in 1887 and 1893. She also wrote Poets on Poets in 1894, besides working on an English translation of Alexander Herzen's De l'autre rive. An account of her and her family is provided in Betty Askwith's Two Victorian Families.

In 1907, Lady Strachey was elected to the executive committee of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. She and her daughters were also active organisers of the Mud March from Hyde Park to Exeter Hall to demand the right to vote. In 1909 she became an editorial board member of the English Woman's Journal and was elected as the President of the South Paddington Committee of the London Society for Women's Suffrage. Her professional activities declined after her husband's death in 1909. She was offered the directorship of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists in 1920, which she declined. She died in 1928. Virginia Woolf wrote an extensive obituary essay detailing Lady Strachey's contribution to the women's movement.