Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs

Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs (c 1839 – 1905) was an English novelist and advocate for women’s rights and anti-slavery.

The eldest granddaughter of the prominent British radical lawyer William Henry Ashurst, Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs (called Ashurst) kept up the family tradition of literary output with her two sprawling novels. Her aunt Eliza Ashurst Bardonneau-Narcy was among the first to translate George Sand’s novels into English. Her other aunt Emilie Ashurst Venturi published translations of Giuseppe Mazzini’s writings and wrote essays on his Italian nationalism in addition to producing two novels. Her younger sisters also made their livings with their pens: Caroline Ashurst Biggs (1840-1889) edited the prominent feminist newspaper The Englishwoman’s Review and wrote frequently on women’s rights. Maude Ashurst Biggs (1856-1933) was an advocate for Polish nationalism and translated Polish works into English, in addition to contributing 23 articles to The Englishwoman’s Review. Kate Ada Ashurst Biggs (c.1859-1901) published articles in Gentleman’s Magazine.

Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs published nothing in her own name, but Susan B. Anthony attributed White and Black: A Story of the Southern States (1862) to her: "Given me by the author E. Ashurst Biggs, a sister of the editor of the Englishwoman's Review Caroline Ashurst Biggs" (signed and dated 25 December 1902). Substantiating this claim are two books about American politics from Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs’ personal collection held by the National Library of Scotland. The three-volume novel follows the fate of Americans of European and African ancestry living in the American South in the years before the Civil War. It contains strong abolitionist arguments and shows the damage the institution of slavery wrecks on both slaves and slave-owners.

In 1874 Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs published a second novel anonymously, "by the author of White and Black," called Waiting for Tidings. A signed edition to her father ["Joseph Biggs with dear love from the Author"] is held by the University of Illinois. The three volume novel tells of the unconventional life of its heroine, May Cressingham. The plot exposes the dangers British women in late nineteenth-century faced in a legal system that handed all their property to their husbands. It includes explicit arguments promoting legal equality of women and implicitly calls for women’s suffrage.

Although Worldcat.org and others attribute these two books to both Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs and her sister Caroline Ashurst Biggs, it seems more likely that Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs was the sole author of both books. Several obituaries for Caroline Ashurst Biggs mention her authorship of the anonymously published novel Master of Wingbourne; none attribute White and Black or Waiting for Tidings to her.

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