Welcome to the First Issue of Capacious Extremis!
Hello! I'm so glad to have an audience to share my love of strange and interesting historical facts with. I've decided to name this newsletter after the charm that is used on Hermione Granger's bag in the seventh Harry Potter book that makes it bigger on the inside, much like Mary Poppins' bag or the TARDIS in Doctor Who. My brain, like those bags, is full of the random and obscure, specifically facts that I learn from the Internet and any book I can get my hands on. I'd love to share those facts with you! Of course I cannot take credit for this because I could not do it all without the help of my friend Wikipedia, so thanks Wikipedia!
This edition of my newsletter is going to center around nineteenth century lesbians*. Enjoy!
In 1809, friends Jane Pirie and Marianne Woods, both teachers, opened a school for upper class girls in Drumsheugh Gardens in Scotland. Everything was going well, at first. The wealthiest and most respectable families sent their daughters to be educated there. There were only ten students, and the two teachers, and the twelve women and girls shared two bedrooms. What happened next started with Jane Cumming. Jane was the granddaughter of Lady Cumming Gordon. She was illegitimate; her father, who had passed away, had her with a Bengali woman in India. She was already somewhat of an outcast in Scottish society, because she had looks that wouldn’t allow her to pass for someone who was white. Jane visited her grandmother’s house one November day, and told her that she saw the two teachers at school in bed together…not just sleeping together, but sleeping together. Romantically. Lady Cumming Gordon wrote letters to the mothers of all the other girls at the school, and they all withdrew their daughters, leaving the teachers ruined and heartbroken.
Miss Woods and Miss Pirie weren’t about to give up without a fight, though. They took Lady Cumming Gordon to court, suing her for 10,000 pounds. In 1811, the case went to court, and Jane told everyone present that the teachers, in another bed in the same room as her, were “speaking and kissing and shaking in [their] bed…Miss Woods was breaking so high and so quick.” She went on to explain "I heard Miss Woods one night ask Miss Pirie if she was hurting her, and Miss Pirie said 'No'. Then another night I heard Miss Pirie say: 'Oh, do it, darling'. And Miss Woods said: 'Oh, not tonight, for it may waken Miss Cumming and perhaps Miss Stirling'. But Miss Pirie still kept pressing her. So then at last she came in and she lay above Miss Pirie. And then Miss Woods began to move and she shook the bed."
The judge wasn’t so quick to believe the girls’ story. He said that sex between women wasn’t a real thing, and started questioning Jane, bringing up her background growing up in India as a child as a possible influence on her making up stories. The teachers’ lawyer said that both women had good character references and often massaged each other’s backs due to their rheumatism, and perhaps that is what Jane misinterpreted. The courts found Lady Cumming Gordon not guilty, but Miss Woods and Miss Pirie appealed, and their case was upheld. Then Lady Cumming Gordon took the case to the House of Lords, where it continued on until 1819, when they rejected her appeal.
Though the two teachers had won, they were broke and the scandal meant that they could not teach in Edinburgh again. Miss Woods taught part time in London and Miss Pirie remained poor and unemployed. There’s no way to know whether Miss Woods and Miss Pirie were truly romantically involved or not, but either way they didn’t deserve what happened to them. If they were, it would have been interesting if in another universe they could have been friends with Jane, since they all had a part of them that did not fit in with what was considered proper in society at the time. Anyway, this story was turned into a book, and then a play, The Children’s Hour, which was made into two Hollywood movies. I personally have not seen them since I’m sure they don’t have happy endings, much as the real life story, but if you have, please let me know how they are!
(The above picture is Charlotte, and her sister Susan, as Romeo and Juliet)
And that's it for now! I hope you found this at least a little interesting, and if you have any favorite people, places, or things of your own to share, reply to this email and you may see them in a future newsletter!
This edition of my newsletter is going to center around nineteenth century lesbians*. Enjoy!
*Due to the fact that this was the 1800s, I don't know if these women would call themselves lesbians, or bisexual, or whether they would even consider themselves anything at all. I mean no offense by the terms I use, but if I do inadvertently cause any please let me know so I can apologize and correct myself for the future.
In 1809, friends Jane Pirie and Marianne Woods, both teachers, opened a school for upper class girls in Drumsheugh Gardens in Scotland. Everything was going well, at first. The wealthiest and most respectable families sent their daughters to be educated there. There were only ten students, and the two teachers, and the twelve women and girls shared two bedrooms. What happened next started with Jane Cumming. Jane was the granddaughter of Lady Cumming Gordon. She was illegitimate; her father, who had passed away, had her with a Bengali woman in India. She was already somewhat of an outcast in Scottish society, because she had looks that wouldn’t allow her to pass for someone who was white. Jane visited her grandmother’s house one November day, and told her that she saw the two teachers at school in bed together…not just sleeping together, but sleeping together. Romantically. Lady Cumming Gordon wrote letters to the mothers of all the other girls at the school, and they all withdrew their daughters, leaving the teachers ruined and heartbroken.
Miss Woods and Miss Pirie weren’t about to give up without a fight, though. They took Lady Cumming Gordon to court, suing her for 10,000 pounds. In 1811, the case went to court, and Jane told everyone present that the teachers, in another bed in the same room as her, were “speaking and kissing and shaking in [their] bed…Miss Woods was breaking so high and so quick.” She went on to explain "I heard Miss Woods one night ask Miss Pirie if she was hurting her, and Miss Pirie said 'No'. Then another night I heard Miss Pirie say: 'Oh, do it, darling'. And Miss Woods said: 'Oh, not tonight, for it may waken Miss Cumming and perhaps Miss Stirling'. But Miss Pirie still kept pressing her. So then at last she came in and she lay above Miss Pirie. And then Miss Woods began to move and she shook the bed."
The judge wasn’t so quick to believe the girls’ story. He said that sex between women wasn’t a real thing, and started questioning Jane, bringing up her background growing up in India as a child as a possible influence on her making up stories. The teachers’ lawyer said that both women had good character references and often massaged each other’s backs due to their rheumatism, and perhaps that is what Jane misinterpreted. The courts found Lady Cumming Gordon not guilty, but Miss Woods and Miss Pirie appealed, and their case was upheld. Then Lady Cumming Gordon took the case to the House of Lords, where it continued on until 1819, when they rejected her appeal.
Though the two teachers had won, they were broke and the scandal meant that they could not teach in Edinburgh again. Miss Woods taught part time in London and Miss Pirie remained poor and unemployed. There’s no way to know whether Miss Woods and Miss Pirie were truly romantically involved or not, but either way they didn’t deserve what happened to them. If they were, it would have been interesting if in another universe they could have been friends with Jane, since they all had a part of them that did not fit in with what was considered proper in society at the time. Anyway, this story was turned into a book, and then a play, The Children’s Hour, which was made into two Hollywood movies. I personally have not seen them since I’m sure they don’t have happy endings, much as the real life story, but if you have, please let me know how they are!
For more information, check out this article.
(The above picture is Charlotte, and her sister Susan, as Romeo and Juliet)Charlotte Cushman was born to a wealthy family, but her father died, after financial troubles, when she was only thirteen. She was smart and did well in school, but left to get musical training and become and opera singer to provide for her family. In Boston, she became a success on stage, but when her voice began to fail, she was advised to become an actress. She debuted as Lady Macbeth to great success in 1835, when she was just eighteen. Charlotte’s younger sister Susan, also became an actress, but she married young, and when her husband abandoned her, Charlotte took her in. The two of them played Romeo and Juliet together, with Charlotte as Romeo and Susan as Juliet.
Charlotte Cushman had a very tumultuous romantic life. She first dated Rosalie Sully, who was the daughter of an artist, but it only lasted a year, due to Charlotte’s travel schedule. A few years later, Charlotte met Matilda Hays, who was also herself a very interesting woman. She was a journalist and novelist who wanted to use her writing to improve the position of women in society, specifically to respect themselves and work hard for themselves instead of relying on marriage and men. When Charlotte’s sister Susan left the stage to be married, Matilda took over in the role of Juliet for a few months. Matilda and Charlotte were known as a couple by all their friends, and in Europe publicly so. Elizabeth Barret Browning said that the two women “live together, dress alike,... it is a female marriage”. Matilda was referred to by friends as Mathew or Max, and they often wore shirts and jackets instead of dresses and skirts. Below is a picture of Matilda and Charlotte, Matilda is the one on the right and Charlotte is seated on the left.
In 1852, Charlotte and Matilda went to live in Italy, where their friend circle was made up of the American expatriate community of lesbian artists and sculptors. Charlotte used her fame to promote the sculptures of her friend Edmonia Lewis, an African American and Native American sculptor.
(I had to look up Edmonia Lewis, of course, because how could I not! She was born to a black father and Ojibwe mother, and her Native American name was Wildfire. She went to an abolitionist school for a few years, but left, because, as she said, "she was declared to be wild". She studied art at Oberlin, which was pretty much the only college that let in people who were not white and/or not men. There was a weird incident where her friends fell ill because of an aphrodisiac and she was beaten for it but then acquitted of all charges? Anyway, she moved to Boston and sculpted there, later moving to Rome where there were more opportunities for her. Read more about her here).
Unfortunately, Matilda and Charlotte’s relationship did not last forever. Matilda left Charlotte for a sculptor named Harriet Hosmer, but she broke that off and came back to Charlotte. Meanwhile, Charlotte got involved with a sculptor named Emma Stebbins, and eventually this all came to a head when a fight turned physical. Matilda moved out and sued Charlotte because she said she had sacrificed her own career to support Charlotte. Charlotte paid her and the two of them never saw each other again.
(In case you’d like to know, though, Matilda did find love again, with a poet and philanthropist named Adelaide Anne Proctor, who dedicated one of her books to her as a ‘token of love’. She wrote her a love poem, too, which you can read here. Adelaide was Queen Victoria's favorite poet! You can read about her here. When Adelaide died, Matilda tended her grave for many years before her own death.)
Emma Stebbins moved in with Charlotte after the breakup with Matilda, but Charlotte cheated on her with a teenage actress called Emma Crow, who she called her “little lover”. Emma came back to Italy with Charlotte, where she met Charlotte’s nephew, Ned. Emma and Ned fell in love and got married. (I hope Ned didn’t know that his aunt dated his wife because that is super weird). In the last bit of her career, Charlotte was a dramatic reader, where she travelled and read Shakespeare, poetry, or humorous essays for audiences. She developed breast cancer, and Emma, like Matilda, gave up her career to tend to Charlotte, who died in 1876.
Charlotte Cushman had a very tumultuous romantic life. She first dated Rosalie Sully, who was the daughter of an artist, but it only lasted a year, due to Charlotte’s travel schedule. A few years later, Charlotte met Matilda Hays, who was also herself a very interesting woman. She was a journalist and novelist who wanted to use her writing to improve the position of women in society, specifically to respect themselves and work hard for themselves instead of relying on marriage and men. When Charlotte’s sister Susan left the stage to be married, Matilda took over in the role of Juliet for a few months. Matilda and Charlotte were known as a couple by all their friends, and in Europe publicly so. Elizabeth Barret Browning said that the two women “live together, dress alike,... it is a female marriage”. Matilda was referred to by friends as Mathew or Max, and they often wore shirts and jackets instead of dresses and skirts. Below is a picture of Matilda and Charlotte, Matilda is the one on the right and Charlotte is seated on the left.
In 1852, Charlotte and Matilda went to live in Italy, where their friend circle was made up of the American expatriate community of lesbian artists and sculptors. Charlotte used her fame to promote the sculptures of her friend Edmonia Lewis, an African American and Native American sculptor.
(I had to look up Edmonia Lewis, of course, because how could I not! She was born to a black father and Ojibwe mother, and her Native American name was Wildfire. She went to an abolitionist school for a few years, but left, because, as she said, "she was declared to be wild". She studied art at Oberlin, which was pretty much the only college that let in people who were not white and/or not men. There was a weird incident where her friends fell ill because of an aphrodisiac and she was beaten for it but then acquitted of all charges? Anyway, she moved to Boston and sculpted there, later moving to Rome where there were more opportunities for her. Read more about her here).
Unfortunately, Matilda and Charlotte’s relationship did not last forever. Matilda left Charlotte for a sculptor named Harriet Hosmer, but she broke that off and came back to Charlotte. Meanwhile, Charlotte got involved with a sculptor named Emma Stebbins, and eventually this all came to a head when a fight turned physical. Matilda moved out and sued Charlotte because she said she had sacrificed her own career to support Charlotte. Charlotte paid her and the two of them never saw each other again.
(In case you’d like to know, though, Matilda did find love again, with a poet and philanthropist named Adelaide Anne Proctor, who dedicated one of her books to her as a ‘token of love’. She wrote her a love poem, too, which you can read here. Adelaide was Queen Victoria's favorite poet! You can read about her here. When Adelaide died, Matilda tended her grave for many years before her own death.)
Emma Stebbins moved in with Charlotte after the breakup with Matilda, but Charlotte cheated on her with a teenage actress called Emma Crow, who she called her “little lover”. Emma came back to Italy with Charlotte, where she met Charlotte’s nephew, Ned. Emma and Ned fell in love and got married. (I hope Ned didn’t know that his aunt dated his wife because that is super weird). In the last bit of her career, Charlotte was a dramatic reader, where she travelled and read Shakespeare, poetry, or humorous essays for audiences. She developed breast cancer, and Emma, like Matilda, gave up her career to tend to Charlotte, who died in 1876.
For more information, check out this article or Charlotte's Wikipedia page.
And that's it for now! I hope you found this at least a little interesting, and if you have any favorite people, places, or things of your own to share, reply to this email and you may see them in a future newsletter!
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