Barbara Drake (3 October 1876 – 19 July 1963) was a member of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

and trade unionist. She was born in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the daughter of Daniel Meinertzhagen, a banker, and his wife, Georgina ''née'' Potter, sister of

Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociology, sociologist, economist, feminism, feminist and reformism (historical), social reformer. She was among the founders of the Lo ...

. In 1900 she married the

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

Bernard Harpur Drake. They had no children. Active in the Women's Industrial Council, she conducted an enquiry into the position of the ''tea-shop girl''. Her 1920 book, ''Women in Trade Unions'' was an influential work produced by her under the auspices of the Labour Research Department and the Fabian Women's Group. A co-opted member of the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

Education Committee from 1925, she supported educational reforms including the introduction of comprehensive schools. When the Labour Party took control of the county council in 1934, she was made an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

, holding the seat until 1946.

Bibliography

The following is a non-exhaustive list of the

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

lets,

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

s and tracts produced by Barbara Drake. * 1917 ''Women in the Engineering Trades'' * 1920 '' Women in Trade Unions'' * 1922
Some problems of education
' * 1924 ''Staffing in Public Elementary Schools'' * 1933
Starvation in the Midst of Plenty
' * 1936 ''Technical Education'' * 1937 ''State Education; an Immediate Programme for a Socialist Government'' * 1942 ''Community Feeding in Wartime''

References

1876 births 1963 deaths People from Knightsbridge Members of London County Council Members of the Fabian Society Women councillors in England {{worker-activist-stub

See also

Bibliography

References