Charlotte Manning (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Solly; 30 March 1803 – 1 April 1871) was a British feminist, scholar and writer. She was the first head of

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 ...

Family

Charlotte Solly was born in 1803, daughter of merchant Isaac Solly of

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. She first married William Speir, a physician, and they lived in Calcutta. She wrote a scholarly book titled ''Ancient India'' which was published in 1856. As a widow, she married James Manning, a widowed lawyer, on 3 December 1857. Her second husband's daughters were Charlotte and

Adelaide Manning Elizabeth Adelaide Manning (1828 – 10 August 1905) was a British writer and editor. She championed kindergartens. She was one of the first students to attend Girton College. Manning was active for the National Indian Association which champ ...

. Her niece was Caroline Bishop who was an advocate for

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 Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

education.

Kensington Society

In 1863, Manning helped found the Ladies' London Emancipation Society led by the philanthropist Clementia Taylor. Other founder members and executive committee members included Mary Estlin,

Sarah Parker Remond Sarah Parker Remond (June 6, 1826 – December 13, 1894) was an American lecturer, activist and abolitionist campaigner. Born a free woman in the state of Massachusetts, she became an international activist for human rights and women's su ...

Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist.Hill, Michael R. (2002''Harriet Martineau: Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives'' Routledge. She wrote from a sociological, holism, holistic, religious and ...

Eliza Wigham Eliza Wigham (23 February 1820 – 3 November 1899), born Elizabeth Wigham, was a Scottish campaigner for women's suffrage, anti-slavery, peace and temperance in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was involved in several major campaigns to improve women ...

and another women's college founder Elizabeth Malleson. The Kensington Society was formed in 1865 and this gathered together intelligent women known to the secretary Emily Davies for their "thoughtfulness". This discussion group met at Manning's house, 44 Phillimore Gardens, and she was the President of the society from its formation to its dissolution in 1868. The group attracted many notable women, particularly those associated with the improvement in women's access to higher education in Britain. ‘Kensington Society (act. 1865–1868)’
Ann Dingsdale, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 21 July 2015 The Kensington Society charged the substantial sum of two shillings and sixpence annually and the same sum for each meeting. Manning's house was used because it could accommodate the number of women who attended. Some of the women were confident speakers, whereas others used the society as the only place where they could discuss a wide range of subjects privately. The opinions expressed at the meetings were not recorded but the subjects chosen included the obedience of daughters, whether boys and girls should be taught the same subjects and whether women could aspire to be members of parliament or magistrates should they ever be given the vote.

Last years

In 1869, Manning published ''Ancient and Medieval India'' which was a major revision of her previous book. Manning was the first Mistress of

in October of that year.Gillian Sutherland, ‘Manning, (Elizabeth) Adelaide (1828–1905)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 20 July 2015
/ref> She was succeeded the following January by Emily Shirreff. Manning died in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

on 1 April 1871. The month before she died she started the London branch of the National Indian Association. This was an organisation that became very important to her stepdaughter, Adelaide.Elizabeth Adelaide Manning
Open University. Retrieved 21 July 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Charlotte 1803 births 1871 deaths British non-fiction writers Mistresses of Girton College, Cambridge 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers