Josephine Grey was born on the 13th of April 1828 at Milfield, Northumberland, the fourth daughter of the internationally renowned agricultural expert, John Grey of Dilston, and Hannah Annett. Grey was a wealthy landowner and the cousin of Earl Grey, the British Prime Minister. Josephine grew up in an intellectual, political and social milieu which helped to form her strong religious convictions and social conscience as she shared her father's religious and moral principles and his strong dislike of inequality and injustice. She was an attractive woman who Prince Leopold claimed was "considered by many people to be the most beautiful woman in the world." In 1852 Josephine married George Butler, an examiner of schools in Oxford and although a considerable scholar in his own right, always supported his wife's campaigning work, even at the expense of his own career. In 1863, Eva, Josephine's only daughter, fell to her death in front of her. Josephine was devastated by the death of her six year-old daughter and was never to fully recover from this family tragedy. In an attempt to cope with her grief, she became involved in charity work. This involved Josephine visiting the local workhouse and rescuing young prostitutes from the streets.
In 1866, following George's appointment as Principal of Liverpool College, one of the newly established Victorian independent schools, the Butlers moved to Liverpool, where Josephine became President of the North of England Council for the Promotion of Higher Education of Women. In 1868 she published her book 'The Education and Employment of Women'. Arguing for improved educational and employment opportunities for single women, she believed that women should have the vote because they were different from men, that women's special role was to protect and care for the weak, and that women's suffrage was of vital importance to the morality and welfare of the nation. In 1869 the Ladies' National Association for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts (LNA) was founded, and, under Josephine Butler's leadership, the campaign resulted in the repeal of the Acts in 1886. She was also a major figure in the British, Continental and General Federation (later the International Federation for the Abolition of State Regulation of Vice), founded in 1875.
Josephine worked tirelessly to help the women struggling to survive in the Liverpool workhouse. These Liverpool prostitutes told Josephine about their lives and the way that the law allowed the police to abuse them disgracefully. As well as this she became involved in the campaign against child prostitution and in 1885, together with Florence Booth of the Salvation Army, exposed what had become known as the 'white slave traffic'.The group used the case of Eliza Armstrong, a thirteen year-old daughter of a chimney-sweep, who was bought for £5 by a woman working for a London brothel. As a result of the publicity, Parliament passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act which raised the age of consent from thirteen to sixteen. |
| Staircase window in Liverpool Anglican cathedral |
Her independent views on Irish Home Rule, the Boer War, women's suffrage, slavery and other issues found public expression through her many books, pamphlets, periodical contributions and letters to the Press. Josephine Butler now recognised as one of the most revolutionary and energetic social reformers of the nineteenth century died on 30th December 1906. In Liverpool, her example was recognised within a few years of her death with her inclusion in the Noble Women windows in the Anglican Cathedral and the naming of the Josephine Butler Memorial House.
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