Eliza Sharples (1803–1852) was one of the first women in England to lecture on freethought, radical politics and women's rights. Using the names the Lady of the Rotunda and Isis, she delivered her lectures at the Blackfriars Rotunda in 1832, while it was under the management of her partner, Richard Carlile. Her speeches, together with writings by Carlile, herself and others, appeared in her weekly journal, The Isis.
Early life
Sharples was born in 1803 in Bolton, Lancashire to Ann and Richard Sharples, a prosperous manufacturer of counterpanes. Her family were Wesleyan Methodists and her upbringing, both at home and at boarding school, instilled her with strong religious commitment.
She attended boarding school until she was twenty years old, after which she remained at home, sewing and reading. The sudden deaths of her father, brother and sister, and the failure of prayer to save their lives, caused Sharples to question her faith, resulting in a radical change in her life.
In 1829, while visiting a friend in Liverpool, Sharples had eavesdropped on a discussion between her friend's father and Richard Carlile. In spite of Carlile's reputation as a dangerous atheist and political radical Sharples thought he was mild-mannered and handsome. About a year later she discovered a copy of Carlile's newspaper The Republican in a cousin's library and became interested enough to track down more of his works in a local radical bookshop. Carlile's writings transformed Sharples' beliefs and led to what she later described as a "new birth…unto righteousness". In December 1831 she began to correspond with Carlile, who by now had been imprisoned for seditious libel, and in January 1832 she travelled to London to visit him in Giltspur Street Compter.
The Lady of the Rotunda and Isis
Sharples' arrival gave Carlile an opportunity to revive the fortunes of his radical theatre, the Rotunda, which had fallen on hard times since the imprisonment of its chief attraction, Robert Taylor and the departure of his successor, Zion Ward. She agreed to take the places of Taylor and Ward, and deliver a series of philosophical and religious free thought lectures at the Rotunda.
In order to protect her family, Sharples did not want her name to be made public, so Carlile promoted her as the mysterious "Lady of the Rotunda" or "Isis" (named after the Egyptian Goddess of Reason), the first Englishwoman to speak in public about religion and politics.
Her lectures, which commenced on 29 January 1832, were staged theatrically. Wearing a "showy" dress, she was led ceremoniously on to the stage, which was strewn with radical symbols, such as whitethorn and laurel leaves. After her lecture she left the stage without taking questions from the audience, who then debated its content amongst themselves. Her speeches were printed in a weekly journal, The Isis, which she edited.
In the tradition of Carlile and Taylor, Sharples attacked the monarchy, the political establishment and organised religion, arguing that Christianity promoted superstition, prevented the dissemination of knowledge and denied man's liberty. In addition, she spoke in favour of women's rights to speak in public and challenged the Christian doctrine of original sin, proclaiming Eve to be "the personification of wisdom, of liberty, of resistance to tyranny; the mother of human knowledge; the proper help meet for man".
Initially, Sharples achieved cult status, but her lack of training in public speaking soon led to a decline in income from audiences, and by the end of March Carlile had closed the Rotunda and given up its lease. Sharples continued her lectures for a further three months, firstly at Robert Owen's theatre in Burton Street, then at Carlile's house in Bouverie Street. She then worked closely with the Friends of the Oppressed, who were the female arm of the National Union of the Working Classes, giving speeches in celebration of the 1830 French Revolution and to raise funds for the families of those imprisoned for selling unstamped newspapers. Although she was not a follower of Robert Owen, she also gave a speech on the importance of co-operation, where she described herself as "a radical reformer, a republican, an advocate for free discussion on all subjects, and a co-operator, in the best sense in which I have known that word to be used".
The Isis ceased publication in December 1832, after which Sharples lowered her public profile.