Ladies Dining Society
The Ladies Dining Society was a private women's dining and discussion club, based at Cambridge University. It was founded in 1890 by the author Louise Creighton and the women's activist Kathleen Lyttelton. Its members, most of whom were married to Cambridge academics, were believers in women’s education and were active in the campaign to grant women Cambridge degrees. Most were strong supporters of female suffrage.
The society remained active until the First World War. It has been stated that the Society stands "as a testament to friendship and intellectual debate at a time when women’s voices went largely unheard."[1]
Background[edit]
Until the late 1870s, almost all college fellows had been prohibited from marrying, with only a few exceptions such as University professors and Heads of Houses.[2] The revision of the University statutes in 1878 ushered in the establishment of the first women's colleges and an era of greater participation of women in university life,[1][2] although dining in college remained the norm for male fellows with wives being excluded from high tables.[3]
It was against this background that Kathleen Lyttelton suggested to her friend Louise Creighton that they should start a ladies dining club.[4] In 1890,[3] the pair invited a select group of nine (later ten) of their married friends to join their society,[1] "not without an idea of retaliating on the husbands who dined in College."[5] Several of their friends’ husbands were members of an elite society, the Cambridge Apostles, which may have provided inspiration.[1] The society was one of a growing number of women's associations which were formed in Britain during the 1880s and 1890s, and it has been said that at that date "even to form a ladies’ social club was a mild assertion of women’s right to public space".[1]
The society members were believers in women’s education, and were active in the campaign to grant women Cambridge degrees. Most were strong supporters of female suffrage.[3]
The members took it in turn to host once or twice a term, leaving their husbands either to dine at their colleges or to eat a solitary meal in their studies.[6] The hostess not only provided a good dinner (though champagne was not allowed) but also a suitable topic of conversation, if needed.[6] The hostess was also allowed to introduce a guest for dinner.[6] Conversation was to be kept general, Louise Creighton having strong views against what she called 'sub-committees'.[6]
It was an exclusive society, one black ball being enough to exclude a proposed new member.[6] Although the group nominated one of their number to act as secretary, no records of their discussions are believed to survive.[1]