Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs  Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs (1838 – 21 November 1905) was an English novelist and advocate for women's rights and anti-slavery. The eldest granddaughter of the prominent British radical lawyer William Henry Ashurst, she was born in Leicester, Leicestershire in 1838. She was the daughter of Matilda Ashurst Biggs (1818–1866) and hosier Joseph Biggs (1809–1895), the brother of MP William Biggs. The family spent her early years in Leicester. She was close with her mother's family who remained in London. In 1841, her aunt Eliza Ashurst wrote of Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs' early political education to a friend in America. She gave the child a penny for her to donate "to help 'knock down the Corn Laws, and give poor people cheap bread' — which she learned and repeated with great pathos." When a toddler is encouraged to participate in politics, especially a girl in a country that did not foresee a time when women would be allowed to vote, it is not surprising that she would grow up to become civic-minded and engaged in national and international affairs. Elizabeth Ashurst kept up the family tradition of literary output with her two sprawling novels. Her aunt Eliza Ashurst Bardonneau-Narcy was among the first to translate George Sand's novels into English. Her other aunt Emilie Ashurst Venturi published translations of Giuseppe Mazzini's writings and wrote essays on his Italian nationalism in addition to producing two novels. Her younger sisters also made their livings with their pens: Caroline Ashurst Biggs edited the prominent feminist newspaper "The Englishwoman's Review" and wrote frequently on women's rights. Maude Ashurst Biggs (1856-1933) was an advocate for Polish nationalism and translated Polish works into English, in addition to contributing 23 articles to "The Englishwoman's Review". Kate Ada Ashurst Biggs (c.1859-1901) published articles in "The Gentleman's Magazine". Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs published nothing in her own name, but Susan B. Anthony attributed "White and Black: A Story of the Southern States" (1862) to her: "Given me by the author E. Ashurst Biggs, a sister of the editor of the "Englishwoman's Review" Caroline Ashurst Biggs" (signed and dated 25 December 1902). Substantiating this claim are two books about American politics from Elizabeth Ashurst Biggs' personal collection held by the National Library of Scotland.