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Wedgwood's Letters

Like many better-off Victorian women, Wedgwood wrote a prodigious amount of letters. Some of her letters with particular correspondents are published; see below.

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  • Many others are in the Wedgwood Mosley collection at the V&A Wedgwood Collection at Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent.

  • Wedgwood's correspondence with philosopher Victoria Welby is available from the Victoria Welby fonds.

  • Some of Wedgwood's letters with her uncle Charles Darwin are available at the Darwin Correspondence Project.

  • Wedgwood's letters with Robert Browning are available online within The Brownings' Correspondence, part of the online Brownings Research Guide.

  • Some of Wedgwood's public letters to the Spectator are available below.

Published letter collections

Letters with Robert Browning: Robert Browning and Julia Wedgwood: A Broken Friendship as Revealed by their Letters, ed. Robert Curle. New York: Stokes, 1937. [But watch out - this is not a hugely reliable edition! The online edition mentioned above is much better and more up-to-date.]

 

Letters with Emelia Russell Gurney: in Letters of Emelia Russell Gurney, ed. Ellen Mary Gurney. London: Nisbet, 1902.

A few letters with Victoria Welby: included in Echoes of Larger Life: A Selection from the Early Correspondence of Victoria Lady Welby, ed. Nina (Mrs Henry) Cust. London: Jonathan Cape, 1929.

Some published letters to the press
(very short letters omitted)

May 1870. Miss Wedgwood on Female SuffrageThe Spectator. (signed with full name)

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Octt 1871. Mr Erskine's View of LifeThe Spectator. (signed 'J. W. F.')

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Aug 1872. Untitled letter (opposing Galton's view that belief in God is merely a fabrication by theologians) The Spectator. (signed 'J. W. F.')

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Feb 1877. The Public Worship ActThe Spectator. (signed 'J. W. F.')

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June 1878. The Dread and Dislike of ScienceThe Spectator. (signed with full name)

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June 1879. Mr Browning's Dramatic IdylsThe Spectator. (signed 'J. W.')

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July 1879. Untitled letter on vivisectionThe Spectator. (signed with full name)

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December 1879. Doubting DoubtThe Spectator. (signed with full name)​

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May 1881. The Duties of a BiographerThe Spectator. (signed with full name)

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Sept 1881. In MemoriamThe Spectator. (signed 'J. W.')

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December 1881. Capital Punishment and Vivisection. The Spectator. (signed 'An Opponent of Vivisection')

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Oct 1883. Justice to IrelandThe Spectator. (signed 'J.W.')

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Mar 1887. The Supernatural and the MiraculousThe Spectator (signed with full name - so are all letters from now on)

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May 1895. Glorifying the Slipshod Life. The Spectator. 

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July 1897. Pre-Crimean Anticipations. The Spectator.

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October 1897. Mr Lleavelyn Davies on the Broad Church. The Spectator.

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June 1899. National and Individual Morality. The Spectator.

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July 1899. National MoralityThe Spectator.

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June 1906. Can Animals 'Suffer'? The Spectator. (a remarkable anticipation of Peter Singer here, including a fascinating discussion of Annie Besant!)

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April 1907. The Rayner Case. The Spectator.

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March 1908. The Trial of DinuzuluThe Spectator.

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October 1908. Untitled letter (on the right of abortion and perhaps even infanticide). The Spectator.

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January 1910. The Manifesto of the Research Defence SocietyThe Spectator.

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September 1911. Untitled letter on trade unionsThe Spectator.

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April 1912. What is Liberty? The Spectator.

This website is created by Alison Stone (Lancaster University). It is a work in progress. Any feedback is welcome. Please make any use of the contents you like in teaching or research.

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