This biography is republished from The London School of Economics and Political Science and was written by Professor Mary Evans. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Born: 13 September 1875, United Kingdom
Died: 18 January 1964
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: NA
Edith Morley was a scholar in English literature, the first woman appointed to a Chair in a British university level institution, at Reading in 1908 – although Reading at that time was an extension of Christ Church, Oxford. When she was appointed to her Chair, she was not allowed to take the title of Professor of English Literature but had instead to be appointed as a Professor of English Language. Not for a woman associative expertise with canonical literature.
In 1977 a biography of Reading University appeared in which the author, J C Holt, described Morley as “aggressive” and “a woman who frightened the most extrovert of men”. There was little mention of Morley’s work in the support of Jewish refugees in the 1930s or the pioneering work she did about the status of women in the professions, resulting in the 1914 publication of her Women Workers in Seven Professions: a survey of their conditions and prospects. She subsequently published, towards the end of her life an autobiography, Before and After: reminiscences of a working life in which she had set out her side of the story about working in the academy. Morley’s career shows the networks which could support and sustain women. In Morley’s case it was her links with the Fabian Society and individually with Maud Pember Reeves and Arthur Bowley and his wife Julia.