The Wheelwomen pages have a new addition, Frances Evelyn ‘Daisy’ Greville, The Countess of Warwick. Daisy, as she was commonly known, was a society hostess, royal mistress, champion of women’s and worker’s rights, and a pioneering lady cyclist.

Daisy was one of the most fashionable bicycle belles of her time. It has even been suggested that she may have been the inspiration behind Harry Dacre’s music hall hit “Daisy Bell.”

Read more about Daisy’s life, politics, and opinions on cycling in the post here.

No history of Cambridge would be complete without a mention of cycling, and Shape East’s new Walking with Women is no exception. One stop on this self guided tour recalls a day in 1897 when the effigy of a lady cyclist effigy flew high above a raucous crowd gathered to oppose the admission of women to the university.

Walking with Women, curated by Hollie McNish, tells the story of the city from a feminist perspective through historical sketches, art, architecture and poetry. The tour was launched at Michaelhouse Cafe 21 Jan 2013 with an exhibit and night of poetry and readings from the booklet. The exhibit is on display until 3 Feb 2013 at the Michaelhouse Cafe, Trinity Street, Cambridge. The best way to experience it is by picking up a copy of the tour book and hitting the streets.

Cambridge’s history is dominated by stories of triumphant men, but Walking with Women documents how women were part of its brickwork too. A stop in Cambridge’s main Market Square serves as a reminder that this part of the city has been a commercial center and gathering point for men and women since Anglo Saxon times. Elizabethan later women met here to gather fresh water from the communal fountain erected in 1610. A few centuries on, a group of suffragists led by Mrs Rackham assembled around the square’s then grand Victorian fountain, now a crumbling ruin, before setting off on the 1913 NUWSS Great Pilgrimage to London’s Hyde Park.

Gazing west from the fountain, the white limestone pillars of the University’s Senate House are just visible in the next square over. A shop lined cobbled lane leads to the vast gated lawn of this stately neoclassical building, where key decisions determining the governance of Cambridge have been made since 1730. A quick right turn delivers you into the shadow of a towering red sandstone building with stacks of spires and wide gabled windows. This is Gonville and Cais College, and it was from one of these windows that protesting students suspended an effigy of a lady cyclist in 1897. You can see the scene today compared to a picture of the event published in the day’s newspaper in the photo below.

“The Cyclist,” a midway stop along the tour, is an expanded version of a posting you may have read on www.sheilahanlon.com. You can read the story as it appears in Walking with Women, with an accompanying poem by Roseanna Waterfall and illustration by Dilara Arin, here.

Newnam College Archives supplied the image shown left of the protest and effigy reproduced from the original photograph held in their collection.

The Walking with Women self guided tour book is available at the Cambridge Folk Museum, Michaelhouse Cafe and other local galleries.

You can also help support the project by purchasing a copy here. Guided tours can be booked through Shape East. Watch for further developments, including the Walking       With Women iphone app.

Wheelwomen is a new page featuring short profiles of women who made cycling history. While many of these individuals appear in the body of my work, they deserve attention in their own right. Not only were they pioneering lady cyclists, but many were accomplished in other aspects of their lives as well.

This page will toast our cycling sisters past and present and put their experiences a-wheel in  context. New entries will be listed alphabetically.

Watch for features on activist Frances Willard, racer Tessie Reynolds, society cyclist The Countess of Warwick, champion Beryl Burton and more here. First up will be Sarah Grand, novelist and popularizer of the term ‘new woman,’ who embodied modern womanhood in her career, life, and on her bike in turn of the century Britain.

Explore Women on Wheels

Use the new Womenwomen tab to explore the page. Regular updates will follow.

Know an inspiring wheelwoman?

Your contributions and suggestions are welcome! Please get in touch through the comment section or email cyclingtosuffrage@gmail.com.

In March 2012, London Met launched a campaign to secure a new home, supporter or custodian for The Women’s Library. Hopes were high that one of the many institutions considering taking over the collection would put in a bid to keep the collection, staff, and building together. When the Aug 22 deadline arrived, only one bid was submitted, a proposal from LSE that will see the collection move to the 4th floor of their main library in central London.

On Sept 13, a selection committee formed by London Met assembled behind closed doors on to consider the LSE’s proposal. Meanwhile, outside the Holloway Road building, a group of Save the Women’s Library supporters held a demonstration that would have made their suffragette sisters proud, complete with banners, chanting, and soapbox testimonials about what the library meant to them. London Met’s Board of Governors will meet Sept 27 to ratify the recommendation put forward by the selection comittee, details of which have not been made public.

This weekend, the Save the Women’s Library campaign will again call on the spirit of their suffragist and suffragette predecessors as they rally outside The Women’s Library.

The Save The Women’s Library campaign, who are hosting this weekend’s rally, seeks to:

1) Keep the library in its current purpose built building

2) Ensure the collection remains intact and accessible to all

3) Retain the library’s expert staff

Over 12,000 people have already signed the on-line petition to Save The Women’s Library.

<–Click the icon to download the latest Save TWL press release, which covers Saturday’s Rally.

Rally Date: Sept 22nd, 2012

Time: 4-5pm

Location: The Women’s Library, Old Castle Street, Aldgate, London, E1 7NT

Closest tube: Aldgate, Aldgate East, Liverpool Street

See the Save the Women’s Library blog for further information, campaign news and contact details: http://savethewomenslibrary.blogspot.co.uk

You can print a flyer for Saturday’s rally here:  http://savethewomenslibrary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/demonstrate-for-womens-library-22nd.html

If you haven’t signed it yet, please do so here:  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/925/128/986/save-the-womens-library-at-london-metropolitan-university/

Follow Save The Women’s Library on Twitter, @savetwl #savetwl Follow @savetwl

Closes 8 Sept 2012–See the show while you still can!

This special exhibit explores the history and politics of women’s bicycling

In 1895, American activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton famously declared that “many a woman is riding to suffrage on a bicycle.” From the fashionable lady cyclists of Stanton’s era to the politically motivated suffragette scouts of the Edwardian age, the bicycle has long been associated with liberated women.

This free foyer exhibit curated by Vera Douie Fellow Dr Sheila Hanlon uses rare and seldom seen artefacts from The Women’s Library to explore the politics of women’s cycling in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain, with a focus on the suffrage campaign and some surprises along the way.

The inspiring story of how bicycles contributed to women’s emancipation is told through portraits of New Women cyclists, designs for rational cycling costumes, bicycle parade postcards, letters home from suffrage cycle tours, news reports of militant police chases a-wheel and more.

Cycling to Suffrage investigates the history of women’s cycling in a bygone era, but raises issues that still resonate today.

Here’s what some of our visitors have said:

“I left with a sense of connectedness to all the pioneers of women’s cycling” –Spokeswoman

“Essential inspiration for women to get back on their bikes” –One Stop Arts

“What a great tribute to the power of cycling in activism…We would encourage everyone to go and see the wonderful Cycling to Suffrage Display at the Women’s Library’” –Climate Rush

“See how the humble bike transformed the position of women” –What Glass Ceiling

***Chosen as one of the Breeze Network’s Top 5 Cycling Picks for July/August 2012***

The exhibition runs until 8 September 2012.

Download the latest press release by clicking the icon here ——————————————>

For further details and visitor information, see http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/whats-on/exhibitions/cycling-to-suffrage-the-bicycle-and-womens-rights-1890-1914.cfm

The Women’s Library is located at 25 Old Castle Street, Aldgate, London, E1 7NT. Aldgate and Aldgate East are the nearest stations. We have bike racks too!

Women’s Cycling Resource List, 2012

Follow the links in the pdf to go to the websites of the organisations listed.

The list is by no means complete, rather it is a selection of some of London’s great cycling organisations. There are many other cycling groups and initiative out there that I would encourage you to investigate. Please note the resource list is intended as a general guide, and is not an endorsement (not is it endorsed by) any of the organisations named. Be sure to do your research to find the right group for you.

Want to be added to the list? Send me a few details about your organisation and it may appear in the appendix to follow on this website.

Source: “Bicycling for Ladies” cover photo taken by Sheila Hanlon of original held at The Women’s Library.

Want to know what an 1885 photo of a wax mannequin on a tricycle tells us about the dress reform movement? Or hear how local residents in 1890s Malden reacted to the sight of a lady cyclist’s bloomers? Listen to me discuss these artefacts and other exciting finds from The Women’s Library in an interview about the upcoming “Cycling to Suffrage” exhibit on The Bike Show, Resonance Radio, Monday 12 March, 6:30-7:00.

Also on this episode of The Bike Show, a discussion of current issues in women’s cycling advocacy and safety.

If you missed the show live on air, you can listen to it here!

For more on The Bike Show, see their website, http://thebikeshow.net

Further information about the “Cycling to Suffrage” exhibit can be found on The Women’s Library events page.

Image: Ogden’s Guinea Gold cigarette ad showing New Womanly lady cyclist smoking, c. late 1900. From author’s research collection.

Cycling has long been associated with the emancipation of women, from the fashionable lady cyclists of the 1890s to the more politically motivated suffragette scouts of Edwardian times. This foyer display, curated by Vera Douie Fellow Sheila Hanlon, uses artifacts from The Women’s Library to explore the politics of women’s cycling in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain, with a focus on the suffrage campaign and some surprising revelations along the way.

Postcards and other items related to women’s cycling from The Women’s Library, including the original NUWSS Lands End to London postcard shown above, will be on display.

The exhibit opens Wednesday 21 March and runs until Saturday 8 September.

For further details, see The Women’s Library website and Spring Program http://bit.ly/wN8Em3

Image: “Lands End to London,” postcard, The Women’s Library, TWL.2002.369, photographed by Sheila Hanlon 2011

In 1896, Maria E Ward published a comprehensive instruction manual aimed at women interested in cycling. Her book, Bicycling for Ladies, shown above, was one of many similar titles published in the cycle craze era. Ward’s liberated approach, however, made her book stand out among its rivals.

Bicycling for Ladies was a catch all guide to cycling covering everything from choosing a bicycle and learning to ride to health and dress. What distinguished Ward’s manual from the wider genre of women’s cycling instruction, the majority of which was aimed at leisure riders and focused on genteel riding etiquette, was its attention to mechanical detail. Among its more foreward thinking chapters were “Women and Tools” and “Mechanics of Bicycling.” Ward’s objective was to emancipate her lady cyclist readers by teaching them the “laws of mechanics and physiology.”

Ward explained her approach in the introduction to “Women and Tools,” writing, “Most women can sew on a button or run up a seam; sewing, in fact, is regarded rather as a feminine in-stinct than an art…I hold that any woman who is able to use a needle or scissors can use other tools equally well. It is a very important matter for a bicyclist to be acquainted with all parts of the bicycle, their uses and adjustment. Many a weary hour would be spared were a little proper attention given at the right time to your machine.”

Another clue that this manual was for advanced cyclists comes from its cover. The blue and gold embossed book features a bold lady cyclist scorching down a curvaceous country lane. Her legs are thrust out forward and her feet balanced on pegs attached to the hub of the front wheel to keep them free of the spinning peddles as she flies downhill. Her hat flies off behind her as a further indicator of the delirious speed she has reached. The rider sports the rational cycling costume that Ward endorsed and which was associated with the New Womanly lady cyclist. The scenic backdrop, setting sun, and glowing lamp light suggests our rider is taking her leisure on a lonely rural road in the evening, a habit that was not endorsed for lady riders.

The country road cuts elegantly across the spine of Bicycling for Ladies and continues on the back cover. Note the little dog scampering down the lane in the image below. (And also the self portrait of this historian’s hand in the photo above.)

Bicycling for Ladies is also of note for the number and quality of images of women-a-wheel it contains. A flip through the book reveals ample illustrations showing how to, and how not to, ride a bicycle. Ward hired gymnast Daisy Elliot to demonstrate cycling techniques such as how to mount, dismount, carry a bicycle, and perform basic maintenance. Alice Austen, a friend of Ward’s and resident of of Staten Island, photographed the model in various correct and incorrect cycling poses in her studio. Illustrations were then created for the book based on these images. For the final images, Elliot’s face was rendered softer and prettier, since the gymnast’s well muscled physique and plain features were considered unseemly.

The preface of Bicycling for Ladies, reproduced below, provides further insight into Ward’s philosophy of women’s cycling. It also hints at some of the challenges faced by the pioneering lady cyclists of the 1890s.

I HAVE found that in bicycling, as in other sports
essayed by them, women and girls bring upon them-
selves censure from many sources. I have also
found that this censure, though almost invariably
deserved, is called forth not so much by what they
do as the way they do it. 

It is quite natural to suppose, in attempting an
unaccustomed exercise, that you have to do only
what you see done and as others about you are do-
ing. But to attain success in bicycling, as in other
things, it is necessary to study the means as well as
to look to the end to be attained, and to understand
what must not be attempted as well as to know each
step that will be an advance on the road to progress. 

A great deal has been said against attempting to
study a little of anything; but when a slight knowl-
edge of several important branches of science that
bear directly upon a subject under consideration,
and that a subject concerning the health and safety
of many individuals, will render one intelligently
self-dependent, and able at least to exercise without
endangering one's own health or the lives of others,
the acquisition of such knowledge should not be neg-
lected. 

There are laws of mechanics and of physiology
that directly concern the cyclist; it has been the
author's aim to point out these laws, showing, for
instance, the possible dangers of exercise, and how
they may be avoided by the application to bicycle
exercise of simple and well-known physiological
laws, thus enabling the cyclist to resist fatigue and
avoid over-exertion. The needs of the bicyclist are
an intelligent comprehension of the bicycle as a ma-
chine, an appreciative knowledge of the human ma-
chine that propels it, and a realization of the fact
that rider and bicycle should form one combined
mechanism. For this, a knowledge of the laws that
determine the limits and possibilities of both me-
chanisms is necessary. The cyclist is limited, not
only by laws physiological and laws mechanical,
which determine when and for how long he may
travel, but he is restricted by the laws and ordinances
of county, town and village as to how and where he
may travel. A knowledge of these laws is lalso
necessary. 

While not attempting to treat any of these subjects
exhaustively, the author has endeavored to place
them comprehensively before her readers, hoping to
prepare the enthusiast to enjoy all the delights of the
sport, to encourage the timid, and to assist the in-
experienced to define and determine existing limita-
tions. The subject of the care of the bicycle has
been carefully treated, some of the means at hand
suggested, and the necessary tool^gnd their uses ex-
plained. Other topics considered are how the bicy-
cle is propelled, and why it maintains its balance;
what the cyclist should learn, how correct form may
be attained and faults avoided, and what should be
the essential features of the clothing worn.
                               - Maria Ward, 1896

Sources:

Images: Photographed by Sheila Hanlon from original held at The Women’s Library, 2011

ME Ward, Bicycling for Ladies. Bretano: Washington & Paris, 1896.

Julie Wosk, Women and The Machine: Representations from the Spinning Wheel to the Electronic Age. London & Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 2003.

Kate and William’s Tandem

The video above shows Boris Johnson’s very fitting wedding present to newlyweds Kate Middleton and Prince William: a tandem bicycle. Their marital bicycle is a Barcley hire bike built for two.

The tandem has a long history as a solution to companionate cycling. Early versions included a ladies velocipede dragged behind a man’s velocipede, a contraption that connecting two Ordinaries together, and tricycles with basket seats to carry a female passenger in, and the convertible tricycle with a detachable ladies’ seat on wheels shown to the right. In the 180o’s, tandems, or sociables as they were known when the riders were positioned beside each other, developed a following among wealthy couples. The photograph from the Science Museum Collection below shows a tandem quad with a built in front ladies’ seat. Note that the male rider has a saddle and handlebars, whereas the female rider has a bench seat and hand rests to the side.

In the 1890s, tandem Safety bicycles hit the market. The possibility of men and women sharing a bicycle had interesting implications for courtship and gender conventions. One question raised was whether ladies belonged in the front or rear seat. Tandems of both types were produced, but it was generally believed that a the gentleman’s place was in the front where he could steer, brake, and in case of danger leap from the machine and steady it to protest his companion from upset, both physical and emotional of course. Others felt gentlemen belonged in the hind seat, since it was rude to turn one’s back on a lady. Others CTC Gazette columnist FT Bidlake chimed in on the issue, ruling in 1898 that “Ladies, like luggage, are wisely consigned to the rear.” The image below shows a Welsh couple on their lady front tandem. The man pictured was a blind piano tuner.

The best known marital tandem was the one immortalised by composer Henry Dacre in his comic song “Daisy Daisy.” Written in 1892, the tune is popularly believed to have been inspired by Frances Evelyn “Daisy” Greville, The Countess of Warwick. Greville was a socialite, philanthropist, pioneering lady cyclist, and infamous mistress of King Edward VII. The lyrics are reproduced below so you can sing along with the royal tandem video above.

Daisy Bell or A Bicycle Made for Two (Written and Composed by Harry Dacre)

There is a flower within my heart
Daisy, Daisy
Planted one day by a glancing dart
Planted by Daisy Bell
Whether she loves me or loves me not
Sometimes it’s hard to tell
yet I am longing to share the lot
Of beautiful Daisy Bell

(chorus)
Daisy, Daisy give me your answer do
I’m half crazy, all for the love of you
It won’t be a stylish marriage
I can’t afford a carriage
But you’ll look sweet on the seat
Of a bicycle built for two

We will go “tandem” as man and wife
Daisy, Daisy
“Ped’ling” away down the road of life
I and my Daisy bell
When the road’s dark we can both despise
P’licemen and lamps as well
There are “bright lights” in the dazzling eyes
Of beautiful Daisy Bell

I will stick by you in “wheel” or woe
Daisy, Daisy
You’ll be the bell(e) which I’ll ring, you know
Sweet little Daisy Bell
You’ll take the “lead” in each “trip” we take
Then if I don’t do well
I will permit you to use the break
My beautiful Daisy Bell

Sources:

Video: YouTube, http://youtu.be/IFJYAVhWgfw

Images: Science Museum Picture Library; Rhangor Museum, “Iron Frames and Wooden Wheels – The Bicycle Collection at Amgueddfa, Cymru” http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/1972

CTC Gazette, June 1898

Daisy Daisy lyrics composed by Henry Dacre, 1892