1854 Alice Mona Alison is born on 24 May in Ryde on the Isle of Wight as the only child of the 40-year-old John Alison and the 19-year-old Matilda Ann Jane Alison née Hector.
1877 Marries a Scottish farmer, James Alexander Henryson Caird (1847-1921) of Cassencary, Creetown, Kirkcudbrightshire.
1878 Joins the Central Committee of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage.
1880 A portrait of Mona Caird painted by John Everett Millais is exhibited at Grosvenor Gallery.
1883 Publishes a novel in 3 vols, Whom Nature Leadeth, under the penname G. Noel Hatton.
1884 Alister James Caird, Mona and James’s only son is born.
1887 Publishes her second novel in 2 vols. One That Wins: the Story of a Holiday in Italy, under the penname G. Noel Hatton.
1888 Her essay, ‘Marriage’, appears in the August issue of the Westminster Review and is followed by ‘Ideal Marriage’ in the November issue.
1890 Member of the Women’s Franchise League.
1889 Publishes a novel in 3 vols. The Wing of Azrael.
1890 Writes two articles for the Women’s Herald, both titled ‘Mrs. Mona Caird on Women’s Suffrage.‘The Morality of Marriage’ appears in the Fortnightly Review and ‘The Emancipation of the Family’in the North American Review.
1891 Plays an important role in the ‘Wild Women’ debate originated by a series of articles by Eliza Lynn Linton in the Nineteenth-Century, in which she criticises the modern woman. Publishes an article ‘The Position of Women’ in the Manchester Guardian (7 July). A Romance of the Moors — a collection of three short stories: ‘A Romance of the Moors’, ‘For Money or for Love’, and ‘The Yellow Drawing-room’ — published in New York by Holt. Becomes a member of the first Council of the Women’s Emancipation Union.
1892 Reads a paper ‘Why Women Want the Franchise at the Emancipation Union conference.Publishes an article ‘A Defence of the So-called Wild Women' in the Nineteenth Century.
1893 ‘A Sentimental View of Vivisection’ published in the Westminster Review. Writes an introduction to the memoirs of the Russian Nihilist Sophie Wassilieff for the Idler.
1894 ‘Some Truths About Vivisection’ published.The Daughters of Danaus, a novel in 1 vol. published in London by Bliss, Sands, and Foster. ‘Phases of Human Development’ appears in the Westminster Review.
1895 Calls for the abolishment of testing on animals in ‘The Sanctuary Of Mercy’. Her pamphlet ‘A Sentimental View of Vivisection’ published in London by William Reeves.
1897 ‘Beyond the Pale: An Appeal on Behalf of the Victims of Vivisection’published. A collection of earlier essays The Morality of Marriage and Other Essays on the Status and Destiny of Women published in London by George Redway
1898 Becomes a member of the Free Press Defence Committe. The Pathway of The Gods, a novel in 1 vol. published in London by Skeffington.
1899 'Does Marriage Hinder a Woman’s Self-development? appears in the Ladies’ Realm.
1900 ‘The Ethics of Vivisection’published in London by The Society for the Abolition of Vivisection.
1902 ‘The Logicians: An Episode in Dialogue’published.
1903 ‘The Inquisition of Science’published.
1904 Joins the Theosophical Society.
1905 ‘The Duel of the Sexes’ appears in the Fortnightly Review.
1906 Romantic Cities of Provence, a travel book, published in New York by Charles Scribners's Sons and in London by T. Fisher Unwin. ‘A Ridiculous God’ published in the Monthly Review.
1907 Supports financially the new newspaper Votes for Women.Joins Women’s Social and Political Union.
1908 Is an active member of the Women Writers Suffrage League. Takes part in the Hyde park demonstration. Writes ‘Punishment for Crimes Against Women and Children’and ‘Militant Tactics and Woman’s Suffrage’ for the Westminster Review.
1909 Resigns from membership in the Theosophical Society. Joins the London Society for Women’s Suffrage, until 1913.
1910 ‘The Lot of Women’ appears in the Westminster Review.
1913 Delivers presidential address to the Personal Rights Society.
1915 The Stones of Sacrifice published in London by Simpkin and Marshall.‘The Role of Brute Force in Human Destiny’ appears in Quest
1918 ‘The Greater Community’ published in the Fortnightly Review.
1921 Death of Mona's husband, James Alexander Henryson Caird.
1931 The Great Wave, a novel, published by Wishart in London.
1932 Dies of cancer on 4 February at her London house, 34 Woronzow Road, St John’s Wood, aged seventy-seven.
Bibliography
Bland, Lucy. Banishing the Beast: English Feminism and Sexual Morality, 1885–1914. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1996.
Heilmann, Ann. New Woman Strategies: Sarah Grand, Olive Schreiner, Mona Caird. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2004.
Warwick, Alexandra, ed.New Woman Fiction, 1881-1899, Part I, vol. 3, Abington, Oxon and New York: Routledge, 2010.
Last modified 20 February 2019