Elizabeth Fry, a Quaker and humanitarian, was the leading figure in Victorian prison reform. She founded the British Ladies' Society for the Reformation of Female Prisoners, and fought to provide humane conditions, rehabilitation, and aftercare for inmates. Her work helped to develop later parole and discharge support programs and was hugely influential in nineteenth-century social welfare.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Britain. After repeatedly being denied entry to British medical schools, she learned French so she could earn a medical degree at the Sorbonne in Paris. Despite all the obstacles established to prevent women from practicing medicine, she found a loophole that allowed her to qualify for a medical license through the Society of Apothecaries in 1865. (Afterward, of course, the loophole was promptly closed.)

For twenty years, Dr. Anderson was literally the only female member of the British Medical Association. Later, in 1874, she cofounded the London School of Medicine for Women. If all this weren't enough, she also became Britain's first female mayor (Aldeburgh, 1908) and campaigned for women's rights.

Dr. Anderson was a magnificent example of a woman who not only pursued a career but was also a beloved wife and mother.

Eliza Orme graduated with a law degree from University College London in 1888 but was barred from law practice because the Inns of Court refused to call a woman to the bar. However, Orme found a workaround by becoming a legal conveyancer and patent agent. She ran her own office in Chancery Lane, preparing legal documents for male lawyers who were far less qualified than she was.

As a supporter of women's education and suffrage, Orme challenged the exclusion of women from the legal profession. Finally in 1919, the landmark Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act made it illegal to exclude women from professions or public office. Eliza Orme lived long enough to see women becoming lawyers, although by then she had retired.

In 1860, Emily Faithfull broke into the male profession of publishing by founding the Victoria Press in London, where she trained and hired women as compositors, or typesetters. Her press published works by prominent feminists and reformers, including the English Woman's Journal. She gained such renown that Queen Victoria appointed her "Printer and Publisher in Ordinary"—a rare royal endorsement for a woman.

As a member of the feminist Langham Place Circle, Faithfull also toured as a public speaker to persuade people of the need for women's education and economic independence. Her inspiring career created new professional opportunities for women, and demonstrated the talent and excellence they could bring to the publishing profession.

Florence Nightingale is known for modernizing the profession of nursing during the Crimean War. But after that, she went on to become a groundbreaking statistician who used charts and graphs to help the public understand complex data about health and hygiene. In other words, she invented infographics of the type we now see in USA Today. As a result of her analytical brilliance, she became the first female fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.

Her visual and statistical reports persuaded the British government to reform army medical care, and later shaped civilian hospital design and sanitation. Miss Nightingale's legacy not only laid the foundation for modern nursing but also demonstrated how to use statistics as a powerful tool for social change.

The astounding polymath Harriet Martineau was a pioneering social theorist and bestselling author whose books delved into the fields of philosophy, ethics, feminism, history, literature, religion, and political economy. Her Illustrations of Political Economy (1832–34) introduced economic ideas to a broad audience.

She was a regular contributor to The Daily News (founded by Charles Dickens) and covered politics, international affairs and social reform. After going deaf in her twenties, she also worked in disability advocacy.

Hetty Green, an American financial titan, was the most successful speculator—male or female—in the late nineteenth century. Known for her common-sense investment strategy, Green was respected in monetary circles on both sides of the Atlantic. In the U.S. banking crisis of 1907, she single-handedly bailed out the entire city of New York with a personal loan to keep city services running, including salaries for teachers and police.

The press never missed a chance to portray her as eccentric and unlikable, choosing to focus on personality rather than achievement. However, she remains a rare example of a woman reaching the pinnacle of high finance in a male-dominated era—despite never being allowed to join New York City's elite men-only financial clubs.

Pepita de Oliva, born in Málaga, was one of the most acclaimed Spanish dancers of the Victorian era. Touring across Europe, she captivated audiences with her elegant Andalusian performances. Later she became the companion of British diplomat Lionel Sackville-West, with whom she had a lifelong relationship. She gave birth to seven children, one of whom became the mother of novelist Vita Sackville-West.

The remarkable Maggie Lena Walker, a teacher and civil rights activist, became the first Black woman in the U.S. to charter and serve as president of a bank—the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank. Her leadership inspired women to pursue financial autonomy and economic justice in places all around the world, including Britain.

She became a success despite overwhelming odds, at a time of systemic misogyny and Jim Crow exclusion. In her keen understanding of women's need for economic independence, she taught them financial literacy and helped them become entrepreneurs.

Mary Cassatt broke through the barriers of the overwhelmingly male-dominated art world in the Victorian era, exhibiting her works alongside Degas and Monet. She applied her fearless talent in the creation of a distinctly female perspective within the Impressionist movement. Her radiant paintings of women and children in domestic scenes were radical in their assertion of the importance of women's private lives.

She went on to mentor other female artists, and encouraged women to support and collect modern art. In 1915, despite her failing eyesight, she helped organize an exhibition to benefit women's suffrage. Her inspiring career paved a pathway for female artists to be taken seriously.

Mary Paley Marshall, a Cambridge-educated economist, passed her final examinations with honors but, as a woman, wasn't allowed to formally graduate and receive a degree. Nevertheless, at the age of twenty-five she became the first female lecturer at Cambridge University. She went on to teach at University College Bristol, and Oxford University.

After she married economist Alfred Marshall, they co-authored The Economics of Industry in 1879. According to John Maynard Keynes (the father of macroeconomics), Mary Paley Marshall was every bit as significant as her (far more famous) husband to the historical development of economics.

A Quaker reformer and writer, Priscilla Wakefield was a pioneer of female-led economic philanthropy. In 1801, she helped establish one of England's first savings banks for working-class women and children. Her writings on education and economics argued for women's intellectual equality and financial independence, making her a key figure in the pre-Victorian reform movement.

This community became home to thousands of Spanish political exiles, artists, writers, artisans, and business people. Thanks to their dynamic influence, Spanish culture, food, and music became well-known and admired in London. The Sociedad Española de Socorros Mutuos (Spanish Mutual Aid Society) was founded in the metropolis in the early nineteenth century. This vibrant community helped each other financially and socially, and set aside class boundaries as they stuck together during times of hardship. They held charity events and social functions, where everyone from the Spanish ambassador down to the newly arrived immigrants would mingle.

The Spanish characters in Queen of Lombard Street gave the novel a vibrant and unique flavor. While visiting Spain for a book tour in the early 2000s, I was thrilled to spend time with my Spanish readers, who were all so vivacious and smart, I've never forgotten them. They all had a part in creating Reina and other characters in the novel.