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Blue Stockings Society
The Blue Stockings Society was an informal women's social and educational movement in England in the mid-18th century that emphasised education and mutual cooperation. It was founded in the early 1750s by Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vesey and others as a literary discussion group, a step away from traditional, non-intellectual women's activities. Both men and women were invited to attend, including the botanist, translator and publisher Benjamin Stillingfleet, who, due to his financial standing, did not dress for the occasion as formally as was customary and deemed “proper”, in consequence appearing in everyday, blue worsted stockings.
The society gave rise to the term “bluestocking”, referred to the informal quality of the gatherings and the emphasis on conversation rather than fashion, and, by the 1770s, came to describe learned women in general.
The Blue Stockings Society of England emerged in about 1750, and waned in popularity at the end of the 18th century. It was a loose organization of privileged women with an interest in education to gather together to discuss literature while inviting educated men to participate. Led and hosted by Elizabeth Montagu and Elizabeth Vesey, the women involved in this group generally had more education and fewer children than most Englishwomen of the time. During this period, only men attended universities, whereas women were expected to master skills such as needlework and knitting: it was considered “unbecoming” for them to know Greek or Latin, almost immodest for them to be authors, and certainly indiscreet to admit the fact. Anna Laetitia Barbauld, a member of the club, was merely the echo of popular sentiment, contrary to the general opinion of the Blue Stockings, when she protested that women did not want colleges. She wrote, “The best way for a woman to acquire knowledge is from conversation with a father, or brother, or friend.” However, by the early 1800s, this sentiment had changed, and it was more common to question “why a woman of forty should be more ignorant than a boy of twelve”, which coincided with the waning of the Blue Stockings’ popularity.
The group has been described by many historians and authors (such as Jeanine Dobbs) as “having preserved and advanced feminism” via the advocacy for women's education and the social complaints regarding women's status and lifestyle in their society, as seen and exemplified in the writings of the Blue Stockings women themselves:
In a woman's education little but outward accomplishments is regarded ... sure the men are very imprudent to endeavor to make fools of those to whom they so much trust their honour and fortune, but it is in the nature of mankind to hazard their peace to secure power, and they know fools make the best slaves.
— Elizabeth Montagu 1743
The name “Blue Stockings Society” and its origins are highly disputed among historians. There are scattered early references to bluestockings including in the 15th-century Della Calza society in Venice, John Amos Comenius in 1638, and the 17th-century Covenanters in Scotland. The society's name perhaps derived from the European fashion in the mid–18th century in which black stockings were worn in formal dress, while blue stockings were daytime or more casual wear, emphasizing the informal nature of the club’s gatherings. Blue stockings were furthermore very fashionable for women in Paris at the time. Alternatively, many historians claim the term for the society was coined when Elizabeth Vesey first advised Benjamin Stillingfleet, the aforementioned learned gentleman who had distanced himself from higher society and did not have clothes suitable for an evening party, to “come in [his] blue stockings”. Stillingfleet became a frequent and popular guest at the Blue Stockings Society gatherings.
There are several sources linking Stillingfleet to the blue stocking appellation. Samuel Torriano uses the sobriquet blew stocking for Stillingfleet in 1756 and Elizabeth Montagu refers to his blue stockings in 1757. This letter also suggests that by that time he may have stopped attending her soirees. He died in 1771 and in 1881 Samuel Johnson has to remind his friends of the origin of the Blue-Stocking Club name and the role of Stillingfleet. Later Admiral Boscawen and Mrs Vesey. would separately be credited with the first mention of the name.
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Blue Stockings Society
The Blue Stockings Society was an informal women's social and educational movement in England in the mid-18th century that emphasised education and mutual cooperation. It was founded in the early 1750s by Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vesey and others as a literary discussion group, a step away from traditional, non-intellectual women's activities. Both men and women were invited to attend, including the botanist, translator and publisher Benjamin Stillingfleet, who, due to his financial standing, did not dress for the occasion as formally as was customary and deemed “proper”, in consequence appearing in everyday, blue worsted stockings.
The society gave rise to the term “bluestocking”, referred to the informal quality of the gatherings and the emphasis on conversation rather than fashion, and, by the 1770s, came to describe learned women in general.
The Blue Stockings Society of England emerged in about 1750, and waned in popularity at the end of the 18th century. It was a loose organization of privileged women with an interest in education to gather together to discuss literature while inviting educated men to participate. Led and hosted by Elizabeth Montagu and Elizabeth Vesey, the women involved in this group generally had more education and fewer children than most Englishwomen of the time. During this period, only men attended universities, whereas women were expected to master skills such as needlework and knitting: it was considered “unbecoming” for them to know Greek or Latin, almost immodest for them to be authors, and certainly indiscreet to admit the fact. Anna Laetitia Barbauld, a member of the club, was merely the echo of popular sentiment, contrary to the general opinion of the Blue Stockings, when she protested that women did not want colleges. She wrote, “The best way for a woman to acquire knowledge is from conversation with a father, or brother, or friend.” However, by the early 1800s, this sentiment had changed, and it was more common to question “why a woman of forty should be more ignorant than a boy of twelve”, which coincided with the waning of the Blue Stockings’ popularity.
The group has been described by many historians and authors (such as Jeanine Dobbs) as “having preserved and advanced feminism” via the advocacy for women's education and the social complaints regarding women's status and lifestyle in their society, as seen and exemplified in the writings of the Blue Stockings women themselves:
In a woman's education little but outward accomplishments is regarded ... sure the men are very imprudent to endeavor to make fools of those to whom they so much trust their honour and fortune, but it is in the nature of mankind to hazard their peace to secure power, and they know fools make the best slaves.
— Elizabeth Montagu 1743
The name “Blue Stockings Society” and its origins are highly disputed among historians. There are scattered early references to bluestockings including in the 15th-century Della Calza society in Venice, John Amos Comenius in 1638, and the 17th-century Covenanters in Scotland. The society's name perhaps derived from the European fashion in the mid–18th century in which black stockings were worn in formal dress, while blue stockings were daytime or more casual wear, emphasizing the informal nature of the club’s gatherings. Blue stockings were furthermore very fashionable for women in Paris at the time. Alternatively, many historians claim the term for the society was coined when Elizabeth Vesey first advised Benjamin Stillingfleet, the aforementioned learned gentleman who had distanced himself from higher society and did not have clothes suitable for an evening party, to “come in [his] blue stockings”. Stillingfleet became a frequent and popular guest at the Blue Stockings Society gatherings.
There are several sources linking Stillingfleet to the blue stocking appellation. Samuel Torriano uses the sobriquet blew stocking for Stillingfleet in 1756 and Elizabeth Montagu refers to his blue stockings in 1757. This letter also suggests that by that time he may have stopped attending her soirees. He died in 1771 and in 1881 Samuel Johnson has to remind his friends of the origin of the Blue-Stocking Club name and the role of Stillingfleet. Later Admiral Boscawen and Mrs Vesey. would separately be credited with the first mention of the name.
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