Person    | Female  Born 17/5/1873  Died 17/6/1957

Dorothy Richardson

Categories: Gender Issues, Literature

Author and journalist. Born Abingdon and brought up in Putney. Her father was bankrupt and her mother had died by suicide by the time Dorothy was 22. Moved to Bloomsbury in 1896 and while working as a dental secretary in Harley Street started her literary career. Most of her novels were part of the 13-volume semi-autobiographical series Pilgrimage. The first in this series, Pointed Roofs, was the first novel to be described as 'stream of conciousness'. For this reason her name is often linked with James Joyce, Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolf. Richardson called for equal rights for women and wrote from a feminist perspective.

Married an artist in 1917 and from then until 1939 they spent the summer in London and the winter in Cornwall. This out of season existence was probably dictated by their lack of funds, her writings being the main source of income. While in London she enjoyed exploring the streets and has been called an early flaneuse - see London Fiction.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Dorothy Richardson

Commemorated ati

Dorothy Richardson

The idea of this plaque may have originated in the 2015 journal article "Doro...

Read More

Other Subjects

Radclyffe Hall

Radclyffe Hall

Novelist and poet.  Born as Marguerite Radclyffe Hall in Bournemouth into a wealthy family. From 1917 until her death Hall lived with Una Troubridge but had a number of affairs with other women.  T...

Person, Gender Issues, Literature, Poetry

1 memorial
Brixton Black Women's Group

Brixton Black Women's Group

Started by Olive Morris and other women who had been active in the Black Panther Movement. It was formed to address the specific issues faced by black women, and to offer advice and support to thos...

Group, Community / Clubs, Gender Issues, Race Issues

2 memorials
Blue Plaque Rebellion

Blue Plaque Rebellion

Writing her book 'Eat Sweat Play: How Sport Can Change Our Lives' Anna Kessel, was shocked at the lack of recognition for sportswomen from the past. Hence the Blue Plaque Rebellion, set up with the...

Group, Gender Issues, Sport / Games

1 memorial
Catherine Courtauld Osler

Catherine Courtauld Osler

Catherine Courtauld Taylor was a social reformer and suffragist. President of Birmingham Women’s Suffrage Society. Born in Bridgwater to parents who supported women's suffrage. Married Alfred Osle...

Person, Gender Issues

1 memorial
Ernest Boulton

Ernest Boulton

Boulton and Frederick Park were 'Stella & Fanny', the celebrated Victorian cross-dressers. Born at Kings Road, Tottenham.  Boulton's cross-dressing began very early and his parents seem to hav...

Person, Gender Issues, Theatre

1 memorial