This is a list of notable women, living and dead, from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the United Kingdom. Notability is based on achievements that have had a verifiable impact or public output or participation in a significant event, in the fields of art, literature, business, industry, science, culture, sport, education, politics, war, philanthropy, medicine and a range of other topics.
Notable women from Cornwall are also listed in the article List of people from Cornwall.
A
Constance Agar-Robartes, First World War nurse
Victoria Amran, founder of the Cornish Food Box Company, business woman
Candy Atherton, ex-MP for Falmouth and Camborne
B
Morwenna Banks, actor
Antonia Barber, writer of fiction
Frances Basset, 2nd Baroness Basset
Maria Branwell, mother of English writers Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë and Charlotte Brontë Michaela Breeze, Commonwealth champion weightlifter Dame Alida Brittain, harpist Mary Bryant, famous prisoner who escaped Australian penal colony Katharine Burdekin, novelist, feminist, sister of Rowena Cade
C
Rowena Cade, creator, builder and founder of the Minack Theatre
Elizabeth Carne, scientist and banker
Vera Carne, First World War Women's Land Army
Helena Charles, Cornish nationalist
Evelyn Clements, munitions worker
Ithell Colquhoun, artist and writer
Myrna Combellack, researcher and translator of Beunans Meriasek
Judith Cook, journalist and campaigner
Selina Cooper, suffragist
Margaret Ann Courtney, folklorist and poet
D
Phyllis Doherty, folk singer, First World War commandant of Women's Volunteer Motor Corps Anne Dowriche, poet Daphne du Maurier, novelist and writer
F
Liz Fenwick, writer, novelist
Elizabeth Forbes, artist and storyteller
Anna Maria Fox, a promoter of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
Caroline Fox, writer
G
Susan Elizabeth Gay, writer
Ann Glanville, 19th-century champion rower
Helen Glover, rower, Olympic gold medallist 2012
Julia Goldsworthy, politician
Queen Gwendolin, medieval legendary figure
H
Melissa Hardie-Budden, writer, founder of the Hypatia Trust, philanthropist
Faith Harris, sailor, secretary to Railway Purchasing Mission
Barbara Hepworth, sculptor and artist
Alice Hext, gardener and philanthropist
Corona Hicks, women's rights campaigner
Rose Hilton, artist
Emily Hobhouse, peace activist and human rights campaigner
Salome Hocking, novelist
Barbara Hosking, civil servant and broadcaster
I
Iseult, figure in Arthurian legend
J
Loveday Jenkin, Cornish nationalist politician; councillor for Crowan and Wendron F. Tennyson Jesse, writer Jane Johnson, writer
K
Ann Kelley, writer and photographer
Marguerite Kesteloot, Belgian refugee, strawberry grower
Laura Knight, artist
L
Mary Lang, writer, photographer, sailor, diarist
Cassandra Latham, white witch
Janet Leach, artist
Katharine Lee (Kitty Lee Jenner; 1853–1936), writer
Margaret Lidgey, bal captain, First World War mine manager
Alice de Lisle, Lord of Alverton, founder of Penzance market
Moura Lympany, musician, concert pianist
M
Margo Maeckelberghe, artist
Jessica Mann, novelist and journalist
Charlotte Mary Matheson, writer
Margaret Mellis, St Ives school artist
Chesten Marchant, last monoglot Cornish-speaker (died 1676) Anna Maria Murphy, writer, playwright, poet, storyteller Sherryl Murray, MP for South East Cornwall
N
Sarah Newton, MP for Truro and Falmouth
Thandie Newton, actor
P
Gertrude Parsons, novelist
Cassie Patten, British Olympic swimmer
Susan Penhaligon, actor
Dolly Pentreath, last Cornish speaker according to tradition
Thomasine, Lady Percival, benefactress and founder of a school
Annie Phillips, autograph collector
Elizabeth Philp, singer, music educator and composer
Rosamunde Pilcher, novelist
Litz Pisk, movement pioneer and instructor
Beatrice Pole-Carew, First World War host for convalescent soldiers (portrait) Margaret Steuart Pollard (Peggy), Cornish language poet Agnes Prest, Protestant martyr