George Eliot (real name Mary Ann Evans), who is rightfully famous for his works Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss ... View More

George Eliot (real name Mary Ann Evans), who is rightfully famous for his works Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1872), and Daniel Deronda (1876), was among the first students at Bedford College. Her perceptive psychological books foreshadowed contemporary literature's narrative techniques, leading D.H. Lawrence to write: "It was really George Eliot who… started putting action inside." View Less

Emily Wilding Davison gained notoriety for spearheading the suffragette campaign, which involved fierce demonstrations t... View More

Emily Wilding Davison gained notoriety for spearheading the suffragette campaign, which involved fierce demonstrations to demand women's suffrage. She embarked on a hunger strike, insulted the Chancellor of the Exchequer and fatally leaped in front of King George V's horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby. View Less

Lenny Henry, a comedian, writer, actor, television host, and originator of Comic Relief, is one of the most adored chara... View More

Lenny Henry, a comedian, writer, actor, television host, and originator of Comic Relief, is one of the most adored characters on British television. In the Queen's 2015 Birthday Honours, he received a knighthood for his charitable and dramatic contributions. View Less

When Elizabeth Blackwell tried to become a doctor and practise, she encountered severe sexual discrimination. She became... View More

When Elizabeth Blackwell tried to become a doctor and practise, she encountered severe sexual discrimination. She became the first female doctor to be included on the General Medical Council's register in 1857 while attending Bedford College. She later co-founded the London School of Medicine for Women and the National Health Society with her friend Florence Nightingale. View Less