Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop
by Benjamin Stone
platinum print, July 1899
7 3/4 in. x 5 7/8 in. (198 mm x 150 mm) image size
Given by House of Commons Library, 1974
Photographs Collection
NPG x36474
Sitterback to top
- Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop (1832-1904), Philanthropist, writer, traveller and photographer. Sitter in 2 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Sir (John) Benjamin Stone (1838-1914), Politician and photographer. Artist or producer associated with 1436 portraits, Sitter in 28 portraits.
This portraitback to top
In 1891 she visited the House of Commons (where she was later photographed by Benjamin Stone) to speak on 'the Armenian question'. A year later she was the first woman to be elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. After learning photography in 1893, her three-year journey to Japan, China and Korea was recorded in pictures as well as words.
Placesback to top
- Place made and portrayed: United Kingdom: England, London (Members’ Entrance to Terrace, Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London)
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Victorian Women Explorers (17 November 2008 - 30 September 2009)
- Off the Beaten Track (7 July 2004 - 31 October 2004)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1899back to top
Current affairs
George Nathaniel Curzon, Lord Curzon, is appointed Viceroy of India, pursuing a mixed policy of forceful control and conciliation. Curzon's inquiries into Indian administration result in legislation in areas including education, irrigation, and policing. The Board of Education is created to co-ordinate the work of higher grade elementary schools, county technical schools and endowed grammar schools, also setting up a register of teachers.Art and science
The Italian Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first wireless telegraph, between France and England across the English Channel, a distance of 32 miles. Marconi's production of waves over long distances lays the foundations for the development of the radio. Later this year, Marconi demonstrates his invention in America, at the Cup yacht race, and for the American navy.International
Outbreak of the second Boer war, fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. Despite a disastrous start, Britain quickly won the war, although guerilla warfare continued until 1902, leading to the introduction of concentration camps by British commander Lord Kitchener, a measure which contributes to the British public's growing disillusionment with the campaign.Comments back to top
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