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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs

Author: Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs (1838–1905)

Biography: Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs was born in 1838 in Leicester, the daughter of the manufacturer Joseph Biggs and Matilda Ashurst Biggs (d. 1866). Her parents were ardent Unitarians and advocates for political causes. In particular, Matilda campaigned for women's rights and Italian independence. Elizabeth and her younger sister Caroline Ashurst Biggs (1840–1889) grew up to espouse the same causes, the latter becoming the editor of The Englishwoman's Review. Elizabeth published two anonymous novels: White and Black (1862) concerns slavery in the United States and Waiting for Tidings (1874) concerns women's legal rights. Biggs never married and died in 1905 in London.

Author Tags:

References: Allison Scardino Belzer, "Three Generations of Unconventional Family Values: A Case Study of the Ashursts," Journal of Victorian Culture 20.1 (2015): 1-19; British Census (1881); Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866–1928 (2001); DNB (Matilda Ashurst Biggs)

Fiction Titles:

  1. White and Black: A Story of the Southern States.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1862.
  2. Waiting for Tidings.  3 vol.  London: Henry S. King, 1874.