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Agnes Dawson (7 March 1873 – 20 April 1953) was a
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Agnes Dawson (7 March 1873 – 20 April 1953) was a British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
politician and trade unionist
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
.
Life
Dawson was born inPeckham
Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720.
History
"Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...
, she became a pupil-teacher
Pupil teacher was a training program in wide use before the twentieth century, as an apprentice system for teachers. With the emergence in the beginning of the nineteenth century of education for the masses, demand for teachers increased. By 1840, ...
in Camberwell
Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross.
Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...
before qualifying as a teacher at Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden is a market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. Th ...
Training College. She campaigned for women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
, joining the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In March 1919 it w ...
, and taking part in a boycott of the 1911 UK census.Cheryl Law, ''Women: A Modern Political Dictionary'', pp.53-54
In 1913, Dawson became a head teacher
A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management
Management (or managing ...
. She was also heavily involved in the National Union of Women Teachers
The National Union of Women Teachers (NUWT) was a trade union representing women schoolteachers in Great Britain. It originated in 1904 as a campaign for equal pay for equal work, and dissolved in 1961, when this was achieved.
History
Women te ...
(NUWT); a founder member, she was its vice-president in 1918, and its president in 1919/20, leading campaigns for equal pay
Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full ...
and for married women to be allowed to teach.
Dawson was also active in the Labour Party. She stood unsuccessfully in the 1922 London County Council election
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* 19 (number)
* One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019
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* ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film
* ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film
* '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film
* '' D ...
in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
, but won Camberwell North in 1925, and quit teaching to become a full-time politician. She was re-elected in 1928 and 1931, becoming senior whip
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature.
Whips a ...
of the Labour group on the council in 1929, then vice-chair in 1931. In 1932, she was a deputy chair of the council."L.C.C. Reductions In Salary. Alleged Pressure On Staff. Mr. Herbert Morrison's Charge", ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', 9 March 1932. p.14Dawson, Agnes, ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
''
In 1934, Dawson was again re-elected to the council, for the first time with a Labour majority. She became chair of its Finance and General Purposes Subcommittee. She also persuaded Herbert Morrison
Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the Cabinet as a member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minist ...
to lift the ban on married women teachers in London. In 1937, she stood down from the council, cut her links with the union, and moved to Newport, Essex
Newport is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district in Essex, near Saffron Walden. The village has a population of over 2,000, measured at 2,352 at the 2011 census.
Located approximately north of London, the village is situate ...
, with her long-term companion, Anne Munns, who she described as her "pal and partner". Dawson served as a magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...
and stood for the parish council.
Munns died in 1952, and Dawson died the following year.
References