which women on banknotes?

[mudskipper]

Wow, this thread is funny but ultimately depressing reading. Were there really that few notable women in the last few hundred years? It's unusual to have living people (other than heads of state) on bank notes so anyone still alive is out.

Ada Lovelace for inventing the computer (pretty much).
Caroline Herschel for finding Uranus
Emily Pankhurst suffragette

Jane Austen of course.

Surely there are many more? Are there really that few British women or are we a bunch of sexist male pigs here and can't think of any who weren't totty? Ahhh OK, I think I've figured it out.

Women, until relatively recently, were largely confined to the domestic sphere. That's why there weren't that many that went on to achieve public acclaim. Hopefully by the next generation there won't need to be a discussion.