Ida Copeland
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Ida Copeland (''
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
'' Fenzi; 15 April 1881 – 29 June 1964) was an Anglo-Italian British politician. She was active in social welfare both locally and nationally, particularly the
Girl Guides Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of Girlguiding, The ...
, and was one of the earliest women to enter Parliament, sitting as
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
MP for
Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...
from 1931 to 1935.


Family and early life

Ida was born in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
,
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
, the daughter of Italian ''Cavalier'' Camillo Fenzi (1852–1883), and his English wife, Evelyne Isabella, daughter of Sir
Douglas Strutt Galton Sir Douglas Strutt Galton (2 July 1822 – 18 March 1899) was a British engineer. He became a captain in the Royal Engineers and Secretary to the Railway Department, Board of Trade. In 1866 he was a member of the Royal Commission on Railway ...
and Marianne (''
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
'' Nicholson), a first cousin of
Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...
, who were married in 1875. Ida was the great-granddaughter of ''Cavalier''
Emanuele Fenzi Emanuele Fenzi (8 April 1784 – 10 January 1875) was a leading Italian banker, iron producer, concessionaire of the Florence–Livorno railway and other railway enterprises, merchant for exportation of Tuscan products, and landowner. Made Sen ...
, Senator of the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...
and banker (Banco Fenzi), granddaughter of ''Cavalier'' Sebastiano Fenzi and his wife, Emily Verity. On the death of her father, she and her brother Leone inherited the Villa di Rusciano designed by
Brunelleschi Filippo di ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi (1377 – 15 April 1446), commonly known as Filippo Brunelleschi ( ; ) and also nicknamed Pippo by Leon Battista Alberti, was an Italian architect, designer, goldsmith and sculptor. He is considered to ...
for the
Dukes of Urbino The Duchy of Urbino () was an independent duchy in early modern central Italy, corresponding to the northern half of the modern region of Marche. It was directly annexed by the Papal States in 1631. It was bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the ea ...
. Copeland grew up in Italy and moved to England at the end of the 19th century. In 1898, her mother married Leonard Daneham Cunliffe, an influential London financier, brother of Walter Cunliffe
Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent choosing and mentoring a successor. The governor ...
, President of the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
and one of the major investors in the
Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...
department stores. On 28 July 1915, Ida Fenzi wed Ronald Copeland (1884–1958) of Staffordshire, grandson of
William Taylor Copeland William Taylor Copeland, MP, Alderman (1797 – 12 April 1868) was a British businessman and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London and a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament. Pottery business William Taylor Cope ...
,
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
, president and chairman of the
Spode Spode is an English brand of pottery and homewares produced in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Spode was founded by Josiah Spode (1733–1797) in 1770, and was responsible for perfecting two important techniques that were crucial to the worldwide su ...
-Copeland firm of bone china manufacturers in Staffordshire, potters to the royal family since 1806.


Girl Guides

Copeland was an active participant in the success of the
Girl Guides Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of Girlguiding, The ...
, and was a member of the International Council of Girl Guides from 1920 to 1928 and from 1940 to 1948. Throughout her life she was dedicated to all forms of social and welfare causes. Funding and campaigning alongside
Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...
for the development of the Girl Guide movement, she served as a division commissioner for the north-west of the county from 1918. Her husband Ronald was a county commissioner for the Boy Scout Association. Later the Copeland family donated the Kibblestone Hall Estate to the Staffordshire Scouting Movement to be used as a Scout camp.


Elected as MP

Elected chairman of the Stoke division of the Women's Unionist Association in 1920, she was chosen as
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
candidate for the Stoke division of Stoke-on-Trent in 1931 for the general election. Copeland faced Sir
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...
– leader of the New Party – amongst the opposing candidates, but her popularity and involvement in local politics and welfare proved fruitful. Mosley maintained strong connections with the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
in Germany. His wife
Lady Cynthia Mosley Lady Cynthia Blanche Mosley (née Curzon; 23 August 1898 – 16 May 1933), nicknamed "Cimmie", was a British aristocrat, politician and the first wife of the British Fascist politician Sir Oswald Mosley. Early life Born Cynthia Blanche Curzo ...
had won Stoke for Labour at the 1929 election. Although Mosley spent less than a week campaigning in the constituency, directing his efforts instead at a national campaign, he met enthusiastic support there, especially amongst younger voters. However, the electoral tide ran in Copeland's favour. Her husband's position as a leading china manufacturer in the Potteries, and her "moderate and straightforward appeal", won her an audience even outside factory gates. She won by an impressive majority of 6,654 votes. She was the 25th woman to be elected to the House of Commons. In May 1932, Copeland made her maiden speech on import duties, which she approached "entirely from the point of view of the pottery industry". It was an industry under threat from foreign competition and she welcomed the protection that tariffs afforded. She believed that overseas manufacturers paid starvation wages to their workers, and it was with a critical eye on the opposition benches that she asked:
"Can we allow goods manufactured under those conditions to come into this country and lower the standard of living of our own people? I say 'no', and I firmly believe that, if we raise these tariffs, the time will come when our industry will be on its feet again."
She made another plea for protection of the china industry in December 1933 after reports that Australian and New Zealand markets were being flooded by cheap Japanese goods, including skilful imitations of British wares: "the competition is so severe that it threatens to sweep the English Potteries right out of those countries". She wanted the British government to compel the
Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...
governments, in their own interests as much as in Britain's, to take action to prevent this "dumping". This was, however, a sensitive matter, and the official response was sympathetic without being specific.
After the war, in 1947, she became godmother to Dorothy Crisp's daughter Elizabeth; Crisp was a right-wing English political figure, writer and publisher.


Ancestry


Accomplishments

*Served on the International Council of Girl Guides from 1920 to 1928 and in 1940. *Division Commissioner for N.W. Staffordshire Division of Girl Guides from 1918. *Chairman of Stoke Division Women's Unionist Association, 1920. *Chairman of the Staffordshire Anglo Polish Society 1943-. *President of the Staffordshire Allotment Holders Association in 1948-. *President of the Women's Advisory Council, Truro Division 1955. *MStJ: Sister of Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, 1949. *Polish Gold Cross of Merit, 1952. *Donor of the Trelissick Gardens Estate to the National Trust in 1955.R. Fedden and R. Joekes, The National Trust guide (1973)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland, Ida 1881 births 1964 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1931–1935 Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom Italian people of English descent 20th-century British women politicians 20th-century English women politicians 20th-century English people Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts