Elizabeth Cassie put her theatrical training to great effect at the February meeting when she gave an entertaining talk to the Society on ‘English Women Abroad’. She began by reminding us that although English women have wandered the world for more than 600 years, it was only in the 19th century that they began to record heir experiences. She introduced us to Frances, Anthony Trollope’s mother, whose book ‘The Domestic Manners of the Americans’ became a best-seller. Then she told us about Marianne North who travelled widely in America and the West Indies seeking plants for Kew Gardens, Margaret Fanshawe who went to the Middle East in search of butterflies and ended up living for 28 years with a Dragoman in Damascus, Mary Kingsley (niece of Charles Kingsley of ‘Waterbabies’ fame) who wrote about Niagara Falls, and Isabella Bird, who in the second part of the 19th century travelled to Australia, America, China, Japan and South East Asia. A fascinating introduction to a school of travel writing that will doubtless encourage members to read for themselves what these doughty ladies did.
Richard Davies
