Names on the buses 352 Elizabeth Robins

Connections with Brighton and Hove : Elizabeth Robins was born in the USA in 1862, but spent most of her life in England, much of it in Brighton. A renowned actress, she introduced Ibsen to the British stage and published many books. Upon leaving the stage, she joined the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and later served on the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) Executive. Her suffrage play Votes for Women and her novel The Convert were hugely successful. In 1909 she met Octavia Wilberforce, who became one of Brighton’s pioneering woman doctors. They lived together for 40 years, living first at “Backsetttown” Elizabeth’s country home near Henfield, which became a retreat for suffragettes and later a convalescent home — then later at 24 Montpelier Crescent, Seven Dials — a house acquired by Dr Wilberforce in 1923, to set up her own surgery. Octavia, Elizabeth and others helped develop and fund other women’s health services, including the Lady Chichester Hospital and later, with Dr Louisa Martindale, the New Sussex Hospital for women. Elizabeth was a close friend of Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst and Virginia and Leonard Woolf and was admired by Oscar Wilde, Henry James and George Bernard Shaw. She died in 1952 at 24 Montpelier Crescent. A Blue Plaque at this address commemorates both Elizabeth and Octavia on their contribution to the fight for women’s equality.

352 Alexander Dennis Enviro - carried name since October 2020.