Joan Bellamy. In Memoriam

We read in The Dewsbury Reporter the obituary of Joan Bellamy (1927-2023), a woman with many hats, including a Brontë one. She was the author of More Precious than Rubies, a biography of Mary Taylor, published in 2002.

Joan Bellamy, a leading campaigner for equal rights for women and pioneer of women's studies at the Open University, has passed away at the age of 96. Michael McGowan reported in the Dewsbury Reporter that Joan was born in Liversedge and attended Heckmondwike Grammar School. She went on to read English at Leeds University and became Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Open University and founder of the Women Humanities Research Group.

Joan Bellamy was an accomplished scholar in Brontë studies, with a particular focus on Mary Taylor, an independent-minded advocate of equality for women who was a close friend of Charlotte Brontë. Joan retraced Mary's steps and published the biography "More Precious Than Rubies," which was launched at a packed event at the Red House. She continued to publish numerous articles about Mary Taylor and was a co-editor of a collection of essays, Women, Scholarship and Criticism (1790-1900) (Manchester University Press).

In addition to her work in Brontë scholarship, Joan worked in Africa and in the press office of Kwame Nkrumah, the President of Ghana. She was also a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and stood as a candidate in the 1970 General Election.

The Dewsbury Reporter reported that Spen Valley Civic Society has arranged for a blue plaque to be placed on Red House in Gomersal to mark the life of Mary Taylor, just a few days before Joan died. She was informed and pleased to hear this news.

Some of the Brontë-related papers she published are;

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: What Anne Brontë Knew and What Modern Readers Don't, Brontë Studies, 30:3, 255-257 (2005)

A Lifetime of Reviewing: Margaret Oliphant on Charlotte Brontë, Brontë Studies, 29:1, 37-42 (2004)

Mary Taylor: 'More Precious Than Rubies' Brontë Society Literary Luncheon Lecture, 7 April 2001., Brontë Society Transactions, 26:2, 139-151

A Note on Lady Morgan (1783?/1776?–1859), Brontë Society Transactions, 25:2, 168-171 (2000)

"The Romance of Independence: Mary Taylor, Feminist Journalist and Friend of Charlotte Brontë." Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies 3.1 (1997): 117-129

Mary Taylor, Ellen Nussey and Brontë Biography, Brontë Society Transactions, 21:7, 275-283 (1996)