Elizabeth Adelaide Manning (1828 – 10 August 1905) was a British writer and editor. She championed

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

s. She was one of the first students to attend

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

. Manning was active for the National Indian Association which championed education and the needs of women in India.

Early life

Elizabeth Adelaide Manning was born in 1828. Her mother was Clarissa (born Palmer) and her father was the lawyer James Manning, who helped the Law Amendment Society decide to support changing the law relating to married women's property.

Career

Manning was a founder member of the London Froebel Society in 1874 with her cousin Caroline Bishop. Bishop was advising the London School Board on the use of

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

methods and Manning presented a paper on the same subject to the Social Science Association. The following year the Froebel Society became national. She was one of the first students to attend

after she sat the entrance exam. Her stepmother Charlotte Manning (née Solly) was briefly the first mistress. In February 1871, Manning and her stepmother started the London branch of the National Indian Association.Elizabeth Adelaide Manning
Open University. Retrieved 25 July 2015 Her stepmother died the following month and Manning increasingly became the society's main proponent. She edited its magazine, whose title shifted from ''The Journal of the National Indian Association'' to ''The Indian Magazine'' in 1886, and then in 1891 ''The Indian Magazine and Review'', still under Manning's leadership. In 1882, the NIA launched Medical Women for India, an initiative to train women doctors so that they could work in part on caring for women in India. (See Zenana missions.) The NIA also took an interest in students from India who were studying in Britain. Manning created a book of guidance called ''Handbook of information relating to university and professional studies etc. for Indian students in the United Kingdom''. Manning had an open house policy and she cared particularly for students from India. In 1888

Cornelia Sorabji Cornelia Sorabji (15 November 1866 – 6 July 1954) was an Indian lawyer, social reformer and writer. She was the first female graduate from Bombay University, and the first woman to study law at Oxford University. Returning to India after her ...

contacted the NIA from India for assistance in completing university education. This letter was championed by Mary Hobhouse and Manning contributed funds, as did

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

, Sir William Wedderburn and others. Sorabji arrived in England in 1889 and stayed with Manning. Sorabji was the first woman to complete a law degree at Oxford and she kept contact with the NIA during her career.Mary Hobhouse
Open University. Retrieved 26 July 2015 In July 1904, Manning was awarded the

Kaisar-i-Hind Medal The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...

, first class, by the King for services to the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. Manning died in London in 1905.Gillian Sutherland, "Manning, (Elizabeth) Adelaide (1828–1905)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 25 July 2015
/ref>

Legacy

Manning left bequests to the NIA, The Froebel Society, the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barnet Ho ...

and Charles Voysey's unorthodox church in Piccadilly. She left her medal and two thousand pounds (£2,000) to Girton College. A portrait of her (from a photograph) was given by Emily Davies to Girton College, and Manning also gave the college a portrait of her stepmother. In 1911 Indian writer Sukumar Ray wrote home to his parents about the NIA, which he described as "'MissManning's Association".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Adelaide 1828 births 1905 deaths Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal Writers from the London Borough of Camden 19th-century British writers 19th-century British women writers Alumni of Bedford College, London Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge British magazine editors British social reformers Education reform British India British women magazine editors People from Bloomsbury