Women writers, musicians and activists in Fitzrovia – a lunchtime talk at Fitzrovia Chapel

Virginia Woolf was the most famous but by no means the only woman scribbler who lived in Fitzrovia. Among them we can count Fanny Holcroft, eighteenth century playwright and anti-slavery campaigner; Nancy Cunard, poet, founder of a modernist Publishing Press, and an activist in racial politics; and Una Marson, also a playwright, and the first black woman employed by the BBC.

The Black Swan was Elizabeth Greenfield, a former American slave and a brilliant singer who came to Fitzrovia in the 1850s, and the first in a long line of women musicians who frequented our neighbourhood when it was home to Britain’s premier concert venue, the Queen’s Hall.

Campaigners are not hard to find: the Red Virgin was the nickname of one of the earliest, Louise Michel, a refugee from the Paris Commune who founded the International Anarchist School in Windmill Street in the 1890s, and then accompanied it to Fitzroy Square.

In this third of a three-part series on lunchtime talks, Sue Blundell and Nick Bailey will discuss the women writers, musicians and activists of Fitzrovia’s past.

The Women of Fitzrovia: “Writers, Musicians and Activists”, presented by Sue Blundell and Nick Bailey at The Fitzrovia Chapel, 2 Pearson Square, London W1T 3BF. From 1pm to 2pm, Tuesday 8 September 2026. Entry is free but must be booked in advance.

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