The Girl's Own Paper

The first weekly number of The Girl's Own Paper appeared on 3 January 1880. As with its male counterpart The Boy's Own Paper, the magazine was published by the Religious Tract Society (which subsequently became Lutterworth Press). It was sold at a price of 1 penny.{{cite book|title=The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain|editor-last=McKitterick|editor-first=David|publisher=Cambridge University Press|chapter=Mass markets: religion|last=Ledger-Lomas|first=Michael|year=2009|isbn=9780521866248}}

In October 1929, the title became The Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine but in 1930 the Woman's Magazine became a separate publication. In December 1947 the name was changed to The Girl's Own Paper and Heiress. By 1951 it was called Heiress incorporating the Girl's Own Paper. In 1956 Heiress closed down, and the name "Girl's Own Paper" ceased to exist. Facsimile reprints of volume 1 to 4 were published by Eureka Press, Japan, in 2006. Several editions are available online from Project Gutenberg.

The story paper provided a mix of stories and educational and improving articles, with 'Answers to Correspondents' and occasional coloured plates, poetry and music. The paper funded{{Cite book|title=The extraordinary tale of Kate Marsden and my journey across Siberia in her footsteps|last=Hill-Murphy|first=Jacki|year=2017|isbn=9780993105418|edition= First paperback |location=[United Kingdom?]|pages=69|oclc=1019470763}} and serialised the exploits of the explorer Kate Marsden in the 1890s when she was lauded by the Royal Geographical Society.{{cite book|last=Anderson|first=Monica|title=Women and the Politics of Travel, 1870-1914|date=2006|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press|isbn=0838640915|pages=164–169|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0838640915}}

For the first 30 years, the weekly and later monthly issues included an unusual amount of music content, including musical scores by women composers. Judith Barger has produced a catalogue and discussed how the material reflected a gradual change in the perception of women's music making, from amateur accomplishment towards more professional roles.Barger, Judith: [https://www.routledge.com/Music-in-The-Girls-Own-Paper-An-Annotated-Catalogue-18801910/Barger/p/book/9781138380028 Music in The Girl's Own Paper: An Annotated Catalogue, 1880–1910], Routledge (2017)[https://www.victorianvoices.net/topics/music/GOP.shtml Victorian Voices music archive: The Girl's Own Paper (1882-1902)]

From 1908, the weekly magazines were dropped and the paper included more information on serious careers for girls and advice on style and dress. Long serials became less common, being replaced by shorter stories. From the 1930s, a greater proportion of its material was directed at younger readers. There were school stories, stories of kidnapped princesses and articles about film stars, although the contents became more serious during World War II.

Volumes 39 and 40 of 1917–18 were entitled The Girls Own Paper and Woman's Magazine; presumably the two publications were merged for economy purposes as a result of World War I.

Many contributors are unknown outside the G.O.P. pages, but they include Noel Streatfeild, Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd, Rosa Nouchette Carey, Sarah Doudney (1841–1926), Angela Brazil, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Richmal Crompton, Fanny Fern, Baroness Orczy, and Norma Lorimer.

Between 1889 and 1901, the leading illustrator Henry William Brewer provided regular articles for the paper, often richly illustrated by his own drawings. Subjects included Interesting Monuments of Distinguished Women (1889),{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=Henry William |title=Interesting Monuments of Distinguished Women |journal=The Girls' Own Paper |date=1889 |url=https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/GOP/Architecture/1889-Monuments.pdf |access-date=15 December 2021}} The Castle of Cleve and the 'Magic Swan' (1890),{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=Henry William |title=The Castle of Cleve and the 'Magic Swan' |journal=The Girls' Own Paper |date=June 1890 |volume=XL |issue=547 |url=https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/GOP/Travel/1890-CastleCleve.pdf |access-date=15 December 2021}} The Largest Churches in Europe (1891),{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=Henry William |title=The Largest Churches in Europe |journal=The Girls' Own Paper |date=1891 |url=https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/GOP/Architecture/1891-Churches.pdf |access-date=15 December 2021}} Archeology for Girls (1895),{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=Henry William |title=Archeology for Girls |journal=The Girls' Own Paper |date=1895 |url=https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/GOP/History/1895-Archaeology.pdf |access-date=7 November 2021}} Typical Church Towers of English Counties (1895),{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=Henry William |title=Typical Church Towers of English Counties |journal=The Girls' Own Paper |date=October 1897 |volume=99 |url=https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/GOP/Architecture/1898-ChurchTowers.pdf |access-date=15 December 2021}} Old English Cottage Homes (1899),{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=Henry William |title=Old English Cottage Homes |journal=The Girls' Own Paper |date=1899 |url=https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/GOP/Architecture/1899-Cottages.pdf |access-date=15 December 2021}} and Site Base Support and Superstructure – Ancient and Modern Methods of Building (1901).{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=Henry William |title=Site Base Support and Superstructure – Ancient and Modern Methods of Building |journal=The Girls' Own Paper |date=1901 |url=https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/GOP/Architecture/1901-Buildings.pdf |access-date=15 December 2021}}

The writer and novelist John Francis Brewer, son of Henry William Brewer also contributed to the paper. In

1887-88 he collaborated with the editor, Charles Peters, describing in articles trips they had taken together in Norway, northern Italy{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=John Francis |title=A Holiday in Norway |journal=The Girls' Own Paper |date=1888 |url=https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/GOP/Travel/1888-NorwayHoliday.pdf |access-date=15 December 2021}} and central Italy.{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=John Francis |title=The Bachelors in Central Italy |journal=The Girl's Own Paper |date=1888 |volume=9 |url=https://archive.org/details/gop-1888/page/n1/mode/2up?q=francis |access-date=19 December 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Dunham |first1=Benjamin |title=Etched in Memory: The Elevated Art of J. Alphege Brewer |date=2021 |publisher=Peacock Press |isbn=978-1914934131|pages=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mgKIzgEACAAJ}}

Between 1940 and 1947 Captain W. E. Johns contributed sixty stories featuring the female pilot Worrals.{{Cite web|url=http://www.girlsown.info|title=Girls Own Paper featuring the work of Captain W E Johns|website=www.girlsown.info|access-date=2017-06-07}}

• Charles Peters 1880–1907
• Flora Klickmann 1908–1931
• Gladys Spratt and others 1931–1956

In her history of the G.O.P., E Honor Ward writes: "The G.O.P. was an important and positive influence on generations of girls and women, and a vital outlet for women's writing and ideas, for more than three-quarters of a century".

{{Reflist}}

• Doughty, Terri. Selections from the Girl's Own Paper, 1880-1907. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2004. {{ISBN|978-1-55111-528-3}}
• Forrester, Wendy: Great Grandmama's Weekly: A Celebration of the "Girl's Own Paper", 1880-1901, Lutterworth Press, 1988, {{ISBN|978-0-7188-2717-5}}

• {{Commons category-inline|The Girl's Own Paper}}
• [http://www.lutterworth.com/gop/index.php The Girl's Own Paper Index], lutterworth.com. Index to issues (1880-1941), background information, reading list, online resources.
• E. Honor Ward, [http://www.lutterworth.com/gop/about_gop.php About the Girl's Own Paper], lutterworth.com.
• [http://www.victorianperiodicals.com/series3/showarticlespecial.asp?id=106608 The Girl's Own Paper: A Paper for Young Women and their Mothers], Waterloo Directory of English Newspapers and Periodicals: 1800-1900, victorianperiodicals.com.
• [http://www.victorianvoices.net/magazines/index.shtml Article Index by Magazine], victorianvoices.net - Collection of excerpts scanned from issues of The Girl's Own Paper (1880-1902).
• [http://highlightsfromthegirlsownpaper.blogspot.com/ Highlights From The Girl's Own Paper] Growing archive of illustration scans and transcripts of articles and "Answers to Correspondents" from Victorian and Edwardian issues of The Girl's Own Paper (1880-1912).
• [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=the+girl%27s+own+paper The Girl's Own Paper], gutenberg.org - 25 copies of The Girl's Own Paper, including illustrations.
• [https://archive.org/search.php?query=The+Girl%27s+Own+Paper&page=2 The Girl's Own Paper archive at Internet Archive]
• {{cite web|title=Aesthetic Bookshelves Tour (with antique, beautiful books)|publisher=Ruby Granger|date=March 31, 2023|website=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viWmGFnFamk&t=512s}} (excerpt on The Girl's Own Paper from 8:32 to 9:21 of 47:32 video)

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Category:Children's magazines published in the United Kingdom

Category:Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom

Category:Magazines established in 1880

Category:Magazines disestablished in 1956