Child-life in Japan, and Japanese Child-stories, Matilda Chaplin Ayrton, 1888

One of the ‘Edinburgh Seven’, the first group of undergraduate female students at any British university, Matilda Chaplin Ayrton was denied graduation as a doctor because she was a woman. She completed her studies in Paris and moved to Japan where she taught medicine and studied family life.

She says of Japan: “We do not know of any country in the world in which there are so many toy shops”, and describes card games that help children learn classic poetry, such as “Kokin Garuta, or the Game of Ancient Odes”.

The Mary Greg collection at Manchester Art Gallery

The Greg family made their fortunes in the textile boom of the early Industrial Revolution in the North West. Mary’s male relatives were founding members (proprietors) of the Portico Library in the years when women could not join. At that time, British law barred married women from owning their own property, but Mary Greg did inherit wealth from the Greg’s cotton factories—generated by the labour of enslaved and exploited people. She was a keen collector of pre-industrial, handmade domestic objects and gathered many toys and games which she donated to museums and charities to encourage children’s education and enjoyment.