Sophia Lonsdale | |
---|---|
Born | March 7, 1854 Regent |
Died | October 20, 1936 Weybridge |
Nationality | British |
Known for | vocal anti-suffragist |
Sophia Lonsdale (1852-1936) was a British philanthropist and social activist.
Life
Lonsdale was the daughter of John Gylby, canon of Lichfield and Sarah Martineau, née Jardine. Her elder sister, Margaret Lonsdale, would be a nurse and writer. 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. 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. 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.
In 1892, Lonsdale opened a girls' high school in Lichfield which would eventually become The Friary School. 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. Lonsdale published The English Poor Laws: Their History, Principles, and Administration in 1902. She wrote the Introduction to The Slippery Slope, and Other Papers on Social Subjects by William Amias Bailward, published in 1920.
Her memoirs, The Recollections of Sophia Lonsdale, were edited by her cousin Violet Martineau (1865-1948) and published in 1936.
References
- The Times/1936/Obituary/Sophia Lonsdale – via Wikisource.
- 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
- 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
- "Female Suffrage: A Women's Protest". The Nineteenth Century. 26. Henry S. King & Company: 361. 1889.
- Bush, Julia (2007). Women Against the Vote: Female Anti-Suffragism in Britain. OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780199248773. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- Harrison, Brian (2012). Separate Spheres: The Opposition to Women's Suffrage in Britain. Routledge. ISBN 9780415623360. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fowler, Simon (2014). The Workhouse: The People, The Places, The Life Behind Doors. Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781783831517.
- Bailward, William Amias (1920). The slippery slope And other papers on social subjects. London: John Murray. Retrieved 14 June 2024.