Sophia Lonsdale

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Sophia Lonsdale
BornMarch 7, 1854
Regent
DiedOctober 20, 1936
Weybridge
NationalityBritish
Known forvocal anti-suffragist

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

Life[edit]

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[edit]

  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. ^ The Slippery Slope/Introduction  – via Wikisource.
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