Let's cut to the chase: women are awesome. From political trailblazers to campaigners, artists and astronauts, British women have long been doing some amazing and awe-inspiring things that have changed the way we live our lives for the better and made their mark on the world. Of course, there's a whole lot more inspirational women than those we've highlighted below, but here's seven inspirational British women from history who all made big changes to Britain and beyond. Who's your most inspirational British woman?
Jane Austen
Jane Austen's novels Pride and Prejudice and Emma are among some of her most famous works
Jane Austen's literary work helped to shape the novels we know today – her books from Pride & Prejudice to Emma are constant sources of inspiration for not just fiction, but films and TV shows too thanks to her sharp wit and tales of love and strong female characters.
Margaret Busby
Margaret Busby had a huge impact on the British publishing industry
Millicent Fawcett
Millicent Fawcett was instrumental in securing the women's vote
Born in 1847 in Suffolk, Millicent Fawcett was a union leader who campaigned for women's right to vote and is considered an instrumental figure in getting the women's vote. She was a suffragist not a suffragette, sharing the same aims as Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragette movement but favoured non-violent protests, and formed the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies in 1897, playing a key role in founding Newnham College, the second Cambridge university college to admit women. In 2018, Parliament Square unveiled a bronze statue or Millicent – the first ever female statue there.
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Mary Seacole
Born in Jamaica, Mary Seacole moved to England in 1854, determined to travel to the Crimea and assist the troops as an army nurse. Later setting up the British Hotel on the Crimean peninsula, Mary was able to offer a mess table and comfortable quarters to officers in need. While her work as a nurse was initially overshadowed by that of Florence Nightingale, in 1991 Mary was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit, and she was also voted the greatest black Briton in 2004.
Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf was considered one of England's most distinguished writers
Part of the collective known as the legendary Bloomsbury group, Virginia was a celebrated novelist, critic and essayist who was considered one of England's most distinguished writers. Her novels tested the boundaries of what Victorian and Edwardian fiction had been before, with some of her most beloved work including Mrs Dalloway (1925) and To The Lighthouse (1927).
Adelaide Hall
Adelaide Hall enjoyed great success as a jazz singer
Originally born in Brooklyn, New York, Adelaide Hall would eventually move to London where she would embark on a successful career as a jazz singer. Earning herself the title of Britain’s highest paid female entertainer in 1941, Adelaide was entered into the 2003 Guinness Book of Records and referred to as "the world's most enduring recording artist" - she had released new music over eight consecutive decades.
Marie Stopes
Marie Stopes opened the first ever family planning clinic in Britain
Born in 1880 in Edinburgh, Marie Stopes' legacy as a pioneer of family planning lives on today with Marie Stopes clinic throughout the country. In 1912, her controversial book, Married Love, was criticised by the church and the press for covering a the then taboo subject of sex, but prompted thousands of women to write to her for advice; in 1921 she opened a family planning clinic in north London - the first in the country.
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I is still considered to be one of the most famous monarchs in recent history
Although never meant to be Queen, Queen Elizabeth I is still considered one of the most famous monarchs in recent history. The daughter of Queen Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII, she went on to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588, with her legendary speech to her troops going down in history.
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale pioneered nursing during the Crimean War
Florence Nightingale's pioneering work nursing British troops during the Crimean War was ground breaking – she took 38 nurses to Turkey's military hospital, the first time a woman had been allowed to do so. She dedicated her life to improving health care and sanitation, and became the first female member of the Royal Statistical Society in 1858.
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Helen Sharman
Helen Sharman became the first female British Astronaut
We can't have this list without an astronaut; in 1991, Helen Sharman became the first female British Astronaut when she launched on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft – plus, she was the first woman to visit the Mir space station too. Helen was chosen for the mission after responding to a radio ad, and beat off competition from almost 13,000 other applicants. Helen is a full-time scientist, pioneer and role model.
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