【Omnibus  Archives】

LONDON -- You've probably never heard of Fanny Cornforth. But,Omnibus  Archives one group of women is campaigning to ensure she gets the recognition she deserves.

SEE ALSO: J.K. Rowling, Emma Watson want a very important statue erected in London

Emily Turner -- a writer and researcher -- and Cornforth's biographer Kirsty Stonell-Walker are crowdfunding for two memorials for Cornforth, who's been dubbed "the patron saint of overlooked women". Turner describes Cornforth was "a Victorian supermodel" as she was a muse and mistress of pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. According to Turner, Cornforth was an important source of inspiration for Rossetti, but her working class background meant she was treated unfairly by Rossetti's peers.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"Fanny was influential in establishing a major collection of Rossetti’s work, which eventually became part of the Delaware Art Museum," says Turner. "She was a fascinating character who, as a working class woman, was treated with distrust by Rossetti's peers, who thought she should be wiped from the artist's history," explains Turner.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"She has been treated quite unfairly in previous commemorations, and is mostly remembered as being 'lower class' and uneducated. Like many women throughout history -- particularly sex workers -- she has been maligned, misrepresented, and forgotten," says Cornforth.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Cornforth disappeared from history in 1906 and it was only recently that researchers discovered what happened to her. Cornforth is believed to have been admitted to the workhouse against her will, and was later admitted to Graylingwell Hospital -- an asylum -- where she remained for the rest of her life. When she died in 1909, she was buried in an unmarked grave paid for by the asylum.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

A Fanny Memorial

The people behind the #RememberFanny campaign want to commission a local artist to create a memorial to mark the site of Cornforth's final resting place. They are hoping to raise enough money for a carved bench with an inlaid stone or plaque. "Fanny -- maligned by the art world, sent against her will to a workhouse, admitted a lunatic asylum, buried in a common grave and forgotten by history -- deserves a proper commemoration," says Turner. The campaign has already reached its initial target of £1,500 and the #RememberFanny team has now moved the target to £2,200 so that a second bench can be purchased for the chapel at Graylingwell Hospital.

Turner says the memorial bench at the site of Cornforth's grave will be unveiled on 9 April.

"We'd like as many people as possible to learn about Fanny Cornforth and the important role she plays in art history," says Turner.

---

Featured Video For You

---

Glowing bike path in Dutch town is like a moving Van Gogh painting

---

• Deals
• Science
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Life
• Social Good
• Tech
• Games

• The Queer Art of Failing Better
• The 15 best true crime podcasts of 2020
• Wordle today: Here's the answer, hints for February 14
• This swing
• Fresh Hell
• This viral Twitter account wants you to stop chasing men who aren't worthy
• 13 addictive Korean dramas to binge right now
• Netflix's 'The Romantics': An ode to Hindi cinema and Bollywood
• Cardinal Cons
• 21 cats that are really, really thicc

• Pulling Teeth; Cold Calling by Chris Flynn
• Congratulations to Tomas Tranströmer by Lorin Stein
• Dear Stanley by Emma Straub
• From the Cloakroom, at the Booker by Jonathan Gharraie
• At the Hotel Roquefort by James Jones
• Staff Picks: ‘Desire,’ Tim Tebow by The Paris Review
• Misspent Youth; Reading 'Fup' by Chris Flynn
• Locker Room Freud; Travel Writing by Lorin Stein and Sadie Stein
• The Corner Booth by Vanessa Blakeslee
• Gary Lutz on ‘Divorcer’ by Andrew Martin

• Hockey Sausage
• 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for February 13
• How to take the reins in your freelancing business
• How to watch the Oscars 2023
• Reading like a Bureaucrat
• Tesla workers push to unionise in New York
• TikTok removes viral video ad of suspected Joe Rogan AI deepfake
• How 'Broker' and 'Return to Seoul' reveal hard truths about Korean adoption
• The France of No Tomorrow
• 13 addictive Korean dramas to binge right now

• Panic in Textopolis
• Mashable's favorite memes of the decade
• Dogs at polling stations are the best thing about the UK election
• Apple's iOS and macOS have a nasty vulnerability, so update now
• Max Boot’s Vietnam
• The best tweets of 2019
• Behold: A precious cat that looks just like Baby Yoda
• 2019 was the year the egg went viral
• Et tu, Boris?
• 2019 was the year of the tube, from the salmon cannon to long Furbies