19 Facts About Eliza Sharples

Eliza Sharples was one of the first women in England to lecture on freethought, radical politics and women's rights.

Eliza Sharples's family were Wesleyan Methodists and her upbringing, both at home and at boarding school, instilled her with strong religious commitment.

Eliza Sharples attended boarding school until she was twenty years old, after which she remained at home, sewing and reading.

In 1829, while visiting a friend in Liverpool, Eliza Sharples had eavesdropped on a discussion between her friend's father and Richard Carlile.

In spite of Carlile's reputation as a dangerous atheist and political radical Eliza Sharples thought he was mild-mannered and handsome.

Eliza Sharples' arrival gave Carlile an opportunity to revive the fortunes of his radical theatre, the Rotunda, which had fallen on hard times since the imprisonment of its chief attraction, Robert Taylor and the departure of his successor, Zion Ward.

Eliza Sharples agreed to take the places of Taylor and Ward, and deliver a series of philosophical and religious free thought lectures at the Rotunda.

Eliza Sharples's speeches were printed in a weekly journal, The Isis, which she edited.

Eliza Sharples continued her lectures for a further three months, firstly at Robert Owen's theatre in Burton Street, then at Carlile's house in Bouverie Street.

Eliza Sharples then worked closely with the Friends of the Oppressed, who were the female arm of the National Union of the Working Classes, giving speeches in celebration of the 1830 French Revolution and to raise funds for the families of those imprisoned for selling unstamped newspapers.

The Isis ceased publication in December 1832, after which Eliza Sharples lowered her public profile.

The relationship between Eliza Sharples and Carlile was physical as well as intellectual, and the first of their four children, Richard, was born in April 1833, while Carlile was still in prison.

However, fellow radicals, such as Henry Hetherington, publicly condemned Carlile for leaving his wife, while Eliza Sharples' family disowned both her and her children.

Eliza Sharples accompanied him on his first provincial tour but returned to London in October 1833, following their son's death from smallpox.

When Carlile died on 10 February 1843 leaving no will, his property went to his wife, and Eliza Sharples was left destitute.

Eliza Sharples left after a few months and, with the aid of a small legacy from an aunt, took a house in London, where she supported herself and the children by needlework and letting rooms.

Eliza Sharples wanted to give a series of lectures on women's rights, but this was vetoed by the men who ran the Temperance Hall.

Eliza Sharples wrote that they regarded her job as serving the coffee and scorned her belief that "all Reform will be found to be inefficient that does not embrace the Rights of Women".

Eliza Sharples died at her home in 12 George Street, Hackney, London, on 11 January 1852.