Kindred Spirits: The Letters of Bessie Rayner Parkes and Barbara Bodichon

In this episode of One Sealed Letter, we travel to 1850s Britain to explore the powerful friendship between Bessie Rayner Parkes and Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. Through their handwritten letters, we witness how two young women, both artists, both reformers, supported each other’s dreams and sparked some of the earliest organized campaigns for women’s rights. You’ll hear a full reading of a heartfelt letter from Bessie to Barbara, along with direct quotes from their surviving correspondence. We also trace their work on The English Woman’s Journal, their role in the Married Women’s Property campaign, and their shared belief in art as a tool for social change.

All quotes and historical details are drawn from their original letters, journals, and biographies including

• Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon: Feminist, Artist and Rebel by Pam Hirsch

• A Beauteous Vision: The Life of Bessie Rayner Parkes by Maureen Wright

• The Langham Place Circle and archives from the English Woman’s Journal

• The collected letters of Parkes, Bodichon, and their circle, many held at Girton College, Cambridge and The Women’s Library at LSE

This episode is a tribute to the kind of friendship that shapes history through sincerity, ink, and shared vision.