Talks take place on Thursday afternoons, starting at 2pm, and usually take place in the Lecture Hall, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA. These are free for Oxford u3a members but you are welcome to attend as a guest for a donation of £5 (£2 for members of all other U3As).
Most talks are recorded on Zoom for the benefit of those Oxford u3a members who are unable to attend Rewley House.
In the event of adverse weather conditions, please telephone Rewley House (01865 270360), to enquire whether the talk has been cancelled.
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Jane Robinson – Trailblazer: the Remarkable Lives of the Victorian Artist and Activist Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
16th October 2025 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Jane Robinson is an acclaimed social historian, focusing on women pioneers. Her 13 books include the best-selling Bluestockings, the story of the first women to access higher education in Britain, and major biographies of nurse Mary Seacole, social reformer, the inspirational humanitarian Josephine Butler and the artist Barbara Bodichon. She is a Fellow of both the Royal Historical and Royal Geographical Societies, a Hawthornden Fellow, a writing mentor, and a Senior Associate of Somerville College, Oxford.
Victorian Barbara Bodichon was responsible for the development of feminism in Britain. She campaigned for equal opportunity in the workplace, the law, the polling booth, at home, and in the world beyond the kitchen or the drawing-room; she co-founded the first university college for women in Britain (Girton) and the first women’s suffrage society. She was also that rare bird, a successful professional female artist. Cheerful, loving and beloved, she’s a very modern heroine.