author
C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael) Stopes
1840–1929
A lively Victorian scholar and campaigner, she wrote about Shakespeare with real determination and argued that women’s rights had deep roots in British history. Her work helped connect literary research, public debate, and the growing suffrage movement.
3 Audiobooks
Shakespeare's family
by C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael) Stopes
Shakespeare's environment
by C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael) Stopes
British freewomen : Their historical privilege
by C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael) Stopes
About the author
Born in Edinburgh in 1840, Charlotte Carmichael Stopes became known as a British scholar, author, and advocate for women’s rights. She published fiction early in her career, but she is best remembered for her historical and literary studies, especially her work on Shakespeare and on the legal and social position of women in Britain.
Her best-known book, British Freewomen: Their Historical Privilege (1894), argued that women had once enjoyed rights and standing that had been eroded over time. The book became influential among campaigners for women’s suffrage, helping give historical weight to claims for political equality.
Stopes also wrote extensively on Shakespearean subjects, building a reputation as a serious and persistent researcher. She died in 1929, leaving behind a body of work that joined scholarship with reform-minded energy.