An Important Volume From The Library of The Women's Retreat of Dr Octavia Wilberforce, Wilberforce Library, Backsettown. Dear Friend to Virginia Wolf, and Friend of The Bloomsbury Group, & Companion to American Actress Suffragette Elizabeth Robins.

Strickland's, Lives Of The Queens Of England, Volume II, Published in 1875. With Dr Octavia Wilberforce's, bookplate of her Wilberforce Library, Backsettown. Octavia's women's retreat near Henfield, Sussex. Virginia Woolf was driven to Brighton to visit Octavia just the day before her suicide in 1941. She put heavy stones in her pockets, and drowned herself in the River Ouse in Sussex. The River Ouse runs through the partners farm near Lewes.

An opportunity to own a volume from Dr Octavia Wilberforces library is a most rare event, as they appear very infrequently, and are incredibly sought after by followers and collectors, in regards to Virginia Woolf, the Bloomsbury Group and the earliest members of Womens Suffrage. Just the thought of who may have studied and enjoyed this historical volume at Backsettown, on early English Queens, is incredibly fascinating and most intriguing. See below for just a few of these incredible women

The Wilberforce Library was established by Dr. Octavia Wilberforce (1888–1963)—a pioneering English physician, close friend, and medical attendant to Virginia Woolf who famously advised rest shortly before Woolf's suicide in 1941.

About the Wilberforce Library

Founded by Dr. Octavia Wilberforce, who defied her parents to qualify as a doctor at the London School of Medicine for Women and practiced medicine in Brighton for decades.

Housed at Backsettown, a women's health convalescent home and retreat near Henfield, Sussex, which Dr. Wilberforce ran alongside her companion, the American actress and suffragette Elizabeth Robins. The American-born actress, playwright, and suffragist, lived much of her life in England, where she and Woolf developed a deep friendship during the interwar period
The library preserved rare and antiquarian volumes—such as historical essays on English songwriting and literature—some of which descended through historical estate provenances like Lavington House and were integrated into the intellectual and community life of Backsettown.

Dr. Wilberforce's extensive correspondence with Virginia Woolf (spanning 1940–1941) and Leonard Woolf (spanning 1941–1963) is preserved within the University of Sussex Library Special Collections

Octavia Wilberforce (1888–1963) was an English physician who made a medical career despite opposition from her parents, with support from Elizabeth Robins. She was in general practice in Brighton, and ran a women's shelter near Henfield. She treated Virginia Woolf's mental illness in the final years of Woolf's life. She was also friends with multiple members of the Bloomsbury Group.

Octavia Margaret Wilberforce was the daughter and eighth child of Reginald Garton Wilberforce (1838–1914), son of Samuel Wilberforce, and his wife, Anna Maria Denman (died 1938), daughter of Richard Denman; her great-grandfather was Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman.12 She was born at Lavington House, Petworth, Sussex, and had little format education. She came out as a débutante in 1907

Wilberforce met world famous stage actress, and suffraget Elizabeth Robins in 1909. In 1910 she took one of the family's maids to hospital, and met Louisa Martindale, an influential contact. Her parents planned for her to marry Charles Buxton, son of Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton, but the match was against her wishes and she refused him. Instead, she entered the London School of Medicine for Women in 1913, beginning seven years of study and qualifying in 1920.

With her father refusing her financial support and disinheriting her, Wilberforce relied mainly on Robins and Lord Buxton. Upon qualifying, she worked as house physician to Wilfred Harris at St Mary's Hospital, London.

From 1923 Wilberforce was in general practice in Brighton, retiring in 1954.
Robins met Leonard and Virginia Woolf in 1928, at the award ceremony for the Femina - Vie Heureuse Prize, she had known Leslie Stephen, Virginia's father.
The Woolfs came to know Wilberforce, who lived with Robins in Brighton, on a social basis at this point.

A social call for tea by Wilberforce to the Woolfs at Monk's House, Rodmell on 9 December 1940 became a consultation when Leonard Woolf involved Wilberforce in her professional capacity. Wilberforce subsequently advised Virginia on the lines of her treatment of exhausted women at Backsettown, a farmhouse belonging to Robins.

On 27 March 1941 Leonard drove Virginia to consult Wilberforce in Brighton; she advised complete rest on the basis of a physical examination. Virginia Woolf died by suicide the following day.

Octavia Wilberforce died on 19 December 1963

Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group formed an influential collective of early 20th-century English writers, artists, and intellectuals who radically rejected strict Victorian conventions in favor of personal freedom, aesthetic appreciation, and liberal politics.

Formed around 1904–1905, the group started when Virginia and her sister, the painter Vanessa Bell, moved to 46 Gordon Square in the Bloomsbury district of London. They were joined by friends from Cambridge University, establishing regular Thursday evening salons and Friday Club discussions.

Alongside Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, prominent members included Vanessa's husband Clive Bell, writer and publisher Leonard Woolf, economist John Maynard Keynes, writer E.M. Forster, biographer Lytton Strachey, and artists Roger Fry and Duncan Grant. Heavily influenced by philosopher G.E. Moore, the collective prioritized deep personal relationships, artistic creation ("art for art's sake"), and a skeptic view of orthodox morality and religion

Heavily influenced by philosopher G.E. Moore, the collective prioritized deep personal relationships, artistic creation ("art for art's sake"), and a skeptic view of orthodox morality and religion

The Hogarth Press: Founded by Virginia and Leonard Woolf in 1917, this independent publishing house gave Virginia complete creative independence from traditional commercial publishers and printed works by modern trailblazers.

The group championed Post-Impressionism in art, pacifism and conscientious objection during wartime, and progressive ideas regarding gender equality and sexuality Members frequently split their time between London and Sussex, gathering at iconic countryside locations like Monk's House in Rodmell (the Woolfs' home) and Charleston Farmhouse in Firle (Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant's home).

Photo in the gallery of Octavia's companion Elizabeth Robins,
With pinned back chestnut hair and piercing blue-grey eyes, few could resist the intensity of the gaze - nor the personality to match - of Miss Elizabeth Robins. Actress, writer, suffragist and feminist, in her time a darling of the London literati, a friend of Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw and Henry James, she was known in this country as the 'High Priestess of Ibsen'.


Just a few of the notable women who may well have enjoyed this superb volume at Backsettown.

Vita Sackville-West. An aristocratic poet, novelist, and gardener. She and Woolf shared a passionate romantic affair and lifelong friendship; Sackville-West famously served as the inspiration for Woolf's gender-bending novel Orlando.

Vanessa Bell: Woolf’s sister and a foundational post-impressionist painter. They were core members of the avant-garde Bloomsbury Group and maintained an intense, lifelong creative alliance.
Katherine Mansfield. The prominent Modernist short-story writer. Mansfield and Woolf shared a complex "love-hate" friendship characterized by a fierce creative rivalry and a deep mutual respect for each other’s literary innovations.

Lady Ottoline Morrell. A flamboyant and influential literary hostess who patronized the Bloomsbury Group, bringing together the era's most famous writers and artists at her Garsington Manor estate.

Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. The famous mother-daughter leaders of the suffragette movement (the Women's Social and Political Union). Robins was a staunch ally, using her writing to support their cause and once even hiding a Pankhurst family member from the police at her Sussex home.

Lady Florence Bell. A prominent upper-class writer and playwright. Despite Bell being an anti-suffragist, she and Robins shared a deep creative "sisterhood," translating plays together and co-authoring the anonymous protest play Alan's Wife.

Marion Lea. An American actress who teamed up with Robins in the 1890s to break into theater management. Together, they successfully bought the rights to and produced Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler in London, creating complex, realistic roles for women on stage.

Dame Sybil Thorndike. One of the most celebrated British actresses of the 20th century. She collaborated with Robins through the Actresses' Franchise League and remained a mutual friend of both Robins and the Woolfs later in life.

Code: 26388