Frances Elizabeth Boyd Dawson (1871 – 1926) 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 ...

social activist. Born Frances Elizabeth Milner at

Fulwood, Lancashire Fulwood is a suburb of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England, in the northern half of the City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston district. It had a population of 28,535 in 2011 and is made up of five wards. Fulwood began to ...

, in 1871, her father, a banker's clerk, died when she was ten years old. She was living in

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in 1904, when she joined the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

. She qualified as a sanitary inspector, and moved to

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

, where she was a founder member of the local

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 ...

in 1906. She also became the secretary of the Reading Women's Suffrage Society, and delivered lectures for the National Committee for the Prevention of Destitution. She relocated to London, and was known as Mrs Boyd Dawson after her marriage in 1909. In 1910, she was portrayed amongst others in the

Fabian Window The Fabian Window is a stained-glass window depicting the founders of the Fabian Society, designed by George Bernard Shaw. The window was stolen from Beatrice Webb House in Dorking in 1978 and reappeared at Sotheby's in 2005. It was restored ...

, a stained-glass window depicting leading members of the

. She was a founder member of the Fabian Women's Group, undertaking research for the

Ministry of Labour A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...

. For two years she was Secretary of the

Women's Industrial Council The Women's Industrial Council (WIC) was a British organisation active from 1894 to about 1917, promoting the interests of women at work. Federation The organisation originated as the Women's Trade Union Association, founded by Clementina Black i ...

, and formulated plans for a Household Orderly Corps to end the drudgery and exploitation of women through domestic service. A long list of by-laws and suggestions were drawn up for those who wished to start a Household Orderly Corps in their own neighbourhood. Her research article, ''The quality of maternity in relation to industrial occupations'', published by the Women's Industrial Council in 1918, claimed, ‘There is practically nothing to choose in quality of maternity between women who go out to work and women who stay at home. Their children live or die in about equal numbers, their confinements are equally good or bad, their infants are born with an equal chance of survival.’ From 1919, she served on the executive of the Fabian Society. She was the author of the pamphlet ''Why Things cost more'', published in the Citizen Series for Women, no. 1. She wrote a series of articles which were syndicated in a range of local newspapers around the UK. In ''C.3 children'' she contended that "it is quite impossible to make an A.1 population out of C.3 children,

hose A hose is a flexible hollow tube or pipe designed to carry fluids from one location to another, often from a faucet or hydrant. Early hoses were made of leather, although modern hoses are typically made of rubber, canvas, and helically wound w ...

who begin life handicapped by impaired constitutions". Between 1920 and 1922, Dawson campaigned and debated on behalf of various women's organisations, advocating state purchase of the whole licensed drink trade. This was seen as a realistic and achievable temperance and health measure in the post war period. At

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

in the mid-1920s, she was appointed as a Justice of the Peace as a nominee of the Buckinghamshire Federation of Trades Councils and Labour Parties. In the 1924 general election, she was the Labour Party’s election agent for the Wycombe constituency. She was a leading public speaker, and in 1921 and 1925 she stood as a Labour candidate for the Rural District Council and then the County Council, but without success. Frances Elizabeth Dawson (Mrs Boyd Dawson) of Marseilles, France and of ‘Highway’, Hazlemere, High Wycombe, Bucks, died at Marseilles, France on 15 December 1926 at the age of 55 years.Westminster Gazette, 22 December 1926; National Probate Calendar, 1927.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd Dawson 1871 births 1926 deaths Members of the Fabian Society People from Fulwood, Lancashire