Lady Louisa Goldsmid 1819 – 1908
Feminist, philanthropist, campaigner for women’s education.
2 September 1819 – December* 1908
Some Key Achievements and Interests
1862 Honorary Treasurer of a fund led by Emily Davies in support of women’s admission to university examinations in medicine and the arts.
1862 Supported a campaign seeking the admission of women to the University of Cambridge’s local examinations, which was agreed in 1865.
1866 Member of the general committee of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson’s St Mary’s Dispensary for Women and Children.
1866 Signed Women’s Suffrage Petition (first mass petition supporting votes for women).
1869 Supported the establishment of Girton College, Cambridge, including making significant financial contributions.
1875 Gave financial assistance to Hertha Ayrton to support her expenses at Girton.
1879 Played a leading role in the campaign for women to be admitted to the Cambridge Tripos examinations.
1879 On the death of her husband, Sir Francis, took his place as a member of the General Committee of the Soceity for Promoting the Employment of Women SPEW making significant donations to their work. She is recorded as being ‘a vocal member of the SPEW Committee and a strong supporter of Jessie Boucherett’s concern about industrial legislation’. (see Timely Assistance: The Work of the Society for Promoting the Training of Women 1859-2009 Anne Bridger & Ellen Jordan). Bequeathed £200 to set up memorial fund in favour of Society for Promoting the Employment of Women.
1881 Supported a campaign for the leaders of the London Jewish community to speak out against the atrocities that were taking place against Jews within the Russian Empire.
1885 Led a delegation to the Home Office to protest against women pit workers’ unfair wages.
1887 Accompanied and paid the expenses of women nail and chain makers from Cradley Heath who were protesting to the Home Secretary about proposals to exclude women from working in the industry.
Issues
1842 Joined the newly formed West London Synagogue of Britain (Reform) Jews in Burton Street. Her husband, Sir Francis Goldsmid had played an important role in the establishment of the Synagogue, which marked an important break with the traditional orthodoxy of the Bevis Marks Synagogue rooted in the Spanish and Portuguese traditions. Reform Jewry introduced shorter services and the introduction of English rather than solely Hebrew in its services. This laid the foundation for the development of Reform Judaism within the UK. The distinction between Orthodoxy and Reform remains as a split to this day.
1867 Withdrew from the movement for women’s suffrage, as she wanted the suffrage petition presented by JS Mill, to limit itself to securing the vote for unmarried women and women. She believed that to campaign for universal suffrage for women wasn’t realistic. When JS Mill refused, she withdrew and persuaded Emily Daves to follow. JS Mill’s campaign failed.
Connection to Bloomsbury
West London Synagogue opened in Burton Street, Bloomsbury.
Networked with women in the area and provided funding for different campaigns and institutions in the area.
Sat on the committee for College Hall, the first hall of residence to be opened for women at UCL.
Sat on the Council of the Froebel Society with Mary Ward.
Bequeathed a statue – L’Innocenza Perduta (Lost Innocence) to UCL – this can be found in the Octagon of UCL.
Women in her Network
Family members Lady Isabel Goldsmid, Anna Maria Goldsmid.
Women connected to the Langham Place Circle, those connected to the many committees associated with education and employment she sat on including the Governesses’ Benevolent Institution and Queen’s College, Harley Street and Girton College, Cambridge.
Fellow members of the suffrage committees and societies she belonged to such as the Society for Women’s Suffrage; London Provisional Petition Committee; Enfranchisement of Women Committee; Manchester National Society for Women’s Suffrage; Central Society for Women’s Suffrage; Central Society for Women’s Suffrage.
Contacts met through her support of different Jewish causes eg as a member of the Ladies’ Committee of the Infants’ School for the Jewish Poor and of which she gave financial support.
Writing/publications/Work
In 1862 contributed to a pamphlet advocating for women to be admitted to university examinations by the University of London.
Further Reading
Alderman, Geoffrey. “Goldsmid, Louisa Sophia, Lady Goldsmid (1819-1908), feminist and promoter of women’s education.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Anglo-Jewish Association, London: The Persecution of the Jews in Russia, Report of the Public Meeting at the Mansion House, London, February 1st: 1882 (Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: volume 46, Victoria University of Wellington Library.
Gasson, Andrew & Baker, William. Forgotten Terrain: Wilkie Collins’ Jewish Explorations
Siddall,R., Kirk, W.& Robinson, E., 2014, The Urban Geology of UCL and the University of London; Urban Geology in London No.1, 20 pp.
UCL Bloomsbury Project,
Willis, Stella. The Anglo-Jewish Contribution to the Education Movement for Women in the Nineteenth Century Transactions (Jewish Historical Society of England)
Vol. 17 (1951-52), pp. 269-281
*There is conflicting information regarding Louisa’s date of death. It may have been 7 December 1908.