Gladys Pott (1867 – 13 November 1962) was an English

anti-suffragist Anti-suffragism was a political movement composed of both men and women that began in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. To ...

and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

Biography

Gladys Pott was born in 1867, the daughter of the

Archdeacon of Berkshire The Archdeacon of Berkshire (also rendered Archdeacon of Berks) is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Oxford. The archdeacon is the head of the archdeaconry of Berkshire, a post historically found within the dioce ...

the Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

Alfred Pott Alfred Pott (30 September 1822 – 28 February 1908) was an English churchman, Archdeacon of Berkshire from 1870 until 1902. Life Pott was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was president of the Oxford Union. He was ordai ...

, and his wife, Emily ' Gibbs. Little is known about Gladys's formative years, except that she was privately educated. Pott became a committed anti-suffragist, and in 1908 she was appointed secretary of the

Women's National Anti-Suffrage League The Women's National Anti-Suffrage League (1908–18) was established in London on 21 July 1908. Its aims were to oppose women being granted the voting, vote in parliamentary elections, although it did support their having votes in local govern ...

(north

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

branch). Through her organisational ability Berkshire became a "stronghold of female anti-suffragism". In 1910 the league joined with the

Men's League for Opposing Woman Suffrage The National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage was founded in London in December 1910 to oppose the extension of the voting franchise to women in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. It was formed as an amalgamation o ...

to form the

National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage The National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage was founded in London in December 1910 to oppose the extension of the voting franchise to women in the United Kingdom. It was formed as an amalgamation of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League ...

(NLOWS) with

Lord Cromer Earl of Cromer is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, held by members of the British branch of the Anglo-German Baring banking family. It was created in 1901 for Evelyn Baring, 1st Viscount Cromer, long time British Consul-General ...

as president; Pott joined the executive committee of the organisation and became its secretary between 1913 and 1914. She and Curzon ran a successful campaign to reduce the impact of the league at the Anglican Church Congress in 1912–1913. In 1912 she wrote ''The Anti-Suffrage Handbook of Facts, Statistics and Quotations for the Use of Speakers'' for use by the league's members. As a committed and devout Christian, Pott took particular umbrage at the launch in 1910 of the Church Suffrage League. According to the historian Julia Bush, Pott "deeply resented this apparent attempt to appropriate religious sanction to one side of the suffrage argument". Pott was prepared to directly question militant suffragettes, and would attend public meetings of the

to put questions to the speakers. The suffragette Kate Parry Frye described Pott as "a most harsh, repellent and unpleasing woman. She began by saying we should not get sentiment from her and we did not". Pott wrote regularly for the ''Anti-Suffrage Review'', and also undertook a letter-writing campaign in ''

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 ...

'', particularly in trying to link the non-violent suffragists with the more militant suffragettes, and in identifying financial connections between suffragist and suffragette organisations. With the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Pott stopped her anti-suffrage work to concentrate on work to support the war effort. Along with her friend Dame Meriel Talbot, she worked to organise the

Women's Land Army The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the ...

and then, between 1916 and 1919, worked at the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries as an inspector in the women's branch. Between 1920 and 1937 she became the secretary and Chair of the Society for the Oversea Settlement of British Women. Pott was appointed an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1923 and a CBE on her retirement in 1937. On 13 November 1961 she died at the age of 94 at her home in

Clifton Hampden Clifton Hampden is a village and civil parish on the north bank of the River Thames, just over east of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. Since 1932 the civil parish has included the village of Burcot, east of Clifton Hampden. The 2011 Census record ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pott, Gladys 1867 births 1961 deaths English civil servants Women of the Victorian era British anti-suffragists 19th-century British civil servants 19th-century women civil servants