Sophia Lonsdale

Last updated
Sophia Lonsdale
Sophia Lonsdale (1852-1936) was a British philanthropist.jpg
BornMarch 7, 1854
DiedOctober 20, 1936
NationalityBritish
Known forvocal anti-suffragist

Sophia Lonsdale (1852-1936) was a British philanthropist and social activist. [1]

Life

Lonsdale was the daughter of John Gylby, canon of Lichfield and Sarah Martineau, née Jardine. [2] Her elder sister, Margaret Lonsdale, would be a nurse and writer. [3] She was also the granddaughter of Anglican bishop John Lonsdale. A vocal anti-suffragist, Lonsdale's name appeared on the list of signatories to "A Woman's Protest Against Female Suffrage" published in The Nineteenth Century in 1889. [4] Lonsdale was an early organizing member of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League and part of the group's executive committee together with Mary Ward. [5] Her letter published in The Times in 1907 encouraged readers to sign a petition against the woman's vote, which was presented to Parliament after collecting 37,000 signatures. [6]

In 1892, Lonsdale opened a girls' high school in Lichfield which would eventually become The Friary School. [7] Much of her work focused on poor relief, as a member of the Charity Organization Society and board of guardians member of the Lichfield union. [8] Lonsdale published The English Poor Laws: Their History, Principles, and Administration in 1902. [9] She wrote the Introduction to The Slippery Slope, and Other Papers on Social Subjects by William Amias Bailward, published in 1920. [10]

Her memoirs, The Recollections of Sophia Lonsdale, were edited by her cousin Violet Martineau (1865-1948) and published in 1936.

References

  1. The Times/1936/Obituary/Sophia Lonsdale  via Wikisource.
  2. Wildman, Stuart (2022-09-08), "Lonsdale, Sophia (1854–1936), social reformer, poor law guardian, and anti-suffragist" , Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.70809, ISBN   978-0-19-861412-8 , retrieved 2022-09-12
  3. Wildman, Stuart (2020-05-14), "Lonsdale, (Lucy) Margaret (1846–1917), nurse and author" , Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.41295, ISBN   978-0-19-861412-8 , retrieved 2022-10-25
  4. "Female Suffrage: A Women's Protest". The Nineteenth Century. 26. Henry S. King & Company: 361. 1889.
  5. Bush, Julia (2007). Women Against the Vote: Female Anti-Suffragism in Britain. OUP Oxford. ISBN   9780199248773 . Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  6. Harrison, Brian (2012). Separate Spheres: The Opposition to Women's Suffrage in Britain. Routledge. ISBN   9780415623360 . Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  7. Greenslade, M W, ed. (1990). "Lichfield: Education". A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 14, Lichfield (Education British History Online ed.). London: Victoria County History. pp. 170–184. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  8. Auchterlonie, Mitzi (2007). Conservative Suffragists: The Women's Vote and the Tory Party. I.B.Tauris. pp. 53, 213. ISBN   9780857711595 . Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  9. Fowler, Simon (2014). The Workhouse: The People, The Places, The Life Behind Doors. Pen and Sword. ISBN   9781783831517.
  10. Bailward, William Amias (1920). The slippery slope And other papers on social subjects. London: John Murray. Retrieved 14 June 2024.