Harriet Martineau

Harriet Martineau was a British social theorist and Whig writer, often cited as the first female sociologist. Martineau wrote many books and a multitude of essays from a sociological, holistic, religious, domestic, and perhaps most controversially, feminine perspective; she also translated various works by Auguste Comte.

She earned enough to support herself entirely by her writing, a rare feat for a woman in the Victorian era.The young Princess Victoria enjoyed reading Martineau's publications. She invited Martineau to her coronation in 1838 - an event which Martineau described, in great and amusing detail, to her many readers. 

Martineau said of her own approach to writing: "when one studies a society, one must focus on all its aspects, including key political, religious, and social institutions". Harriet Martineau died of bronchitis at "The Knoll" on 27 June 1876.