1850s: GCPP Parkes 5/42-95.
The 64 letters in this section were sent from addresses including London, Hastings, Leam, Birmingham, Liverpool, Winchester, the Isle of Wight, Italy, Lowestoft, Deal, and Manchester.
Bessie continues to discuss her reading material. She mentions social activities though she dislikes social gatherings and conventions. She also writes of the following: the death of her brother Priestley in June 1850; her friendship with Marian Evans [George Eliot]; teaching, painting and writing; her relationship with Sam Blackwell; work in support of the Married Women’s Property Bill, 1855-56; the beginnings of work for publications including the Waverley Journal and the English Woman’s Journal; and the speech she made to the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science in 1859. There is occasional mention of the Portfolio Club [a group of women writers which included both Bessie and Barbara].