Edith Grey Wheelwright

Edith Grey Wheelwright (1868 – 24 September 1949) was a British writer and botanist. She served as Secretary to the Bath Branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) from 1909 through 1913.

Edith Grey Wheelwright
Born	1868 (1868) Crowhurst, Surrey, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Died	24 September 1949 (aged 80–81) Clevedon, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Oxford
Occupation(s)	Writer, botanist and suffragette

Biography

Edith Wheelwright and Lilias Ashworth Hallett, 1911

Wheelwright was born in 1868 in Crowhurst, Surrey. She studied botany and geology at Oxford.^[1][2]

She was the author of three novels; The Vengeance of Medea (1894), Anthony Graeme (1895), and A Slow Awakening (1902). Additionally she wrote for the publications Girl’s Own Paper and Great Thoughts.^[1][2] In her later years she wrote five books on the subject of medicinal plants and gardening.^[2] She began a friendship with Beatrix Potter because of their mutual interest in plants.^[2]

Wheelwright initially became involved with the British suffragette movement through the Women’s Social and Political Union WSPU, but left because she preferred the non-militant stance of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. She was secretary of the Bath Branch of the NUWSS 1909 through 1913.^[1]

Wheelwright died on 24 September 1949 in Clevedon from accidental coal gas poisoning.^[2]