Lady Clare Annesley (30 June 1893 – 7 August 1980) was a British

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

and socialist activist.

Life and career

Born at

Castlewellan Castlewellan () is a small town in County Down, in the south-east of Northern Ireland close to the Irish Sea. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve ...

, Lady Clare was the daughter of Hugh Annesley, 5th Earl Annesley and Priscilla Cecilia Armytage Moore. Her father was already 61 years old when she was born."Lady Clare Annesley", ''

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 ...

'', 20 August 1980 Annesley attended the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

. She became active in social work in the East End of London, and in the

suffrage movement 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 ...

, alongside her sister, Constance Malleson. This inspired her to join 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 ...

in 1915. She also became active in the

Union of Democratic Control The Union of Democratic Control was a British advocacy group, pressure group formed in 1914 to press for a more responsive foreign policy. While not a pacifism, pacifist organisation, it was opposed to military influence in government. World Wa ...

and the Women's International League, with the main focus of her activity being pacifism. She also campaigned for

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

, and against the hunting of animals and wearing of furs. Annesley stood for election as a Labour Party candidate on three occasions: in

Bristol West Bristol West was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Thangam Debbonaire of the Labour Party. It mostly covered the central and western parts of Bristol. Following t ...

at a by-election in 1928, and the 1929 general election, then in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

at the 1931 general election, but was never elected. In 1931, she also stood in the Victoria ward of

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings ...

, but was not elected. In later life, Annesley was a member of the

Fellowship Party The Fellowship Party was an environmentalist political party in England from 1955 to 2007. It opposed all weapons as well as nuclear power. Its national petition against nuclear weapons tests contributed to the forming of the Campaign for Nucl ...

.David Boothroyd, ''Politico's guide to the history of British political parties'', p.91

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Annesley, Clare 1893 births 1980 deaths Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

English vegetarianism activists English pacifists English socialists Independent Labour Party politicians Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Daughters of Irish earls People from Castlewellan Politicians from County Down