Isa Donald Benzie (4 December 1902 – 25 June 1988) was a British radio broadcaster. She played a key role in the launch of ''

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'' on

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, and served as its first senior producer.

Early life and education

Benzie was born in 1902 in Glasgow. She took the equivalent of a degree in German at

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formally known under ...

in Oxford. She was not given a degree because she was a woman.

Career

Benzie became a secretary at the

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in 1927, just two years after it first had de facto national coverage in Britain. During the

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, her father, Lt. Colonel Robert Marr Benzie, served in the same army division as John Reith who would become the managing director of the BBC, and had written to Reith asking for a position for his daughter. Isa Benzie was paid £150 per year as assistant to the head of the Foreign Liaison department, Major CF Atkinson. Benzie gathered material for talks given by

Vernon Bartlett Charles Vernon Oldfield Bartlett, CBE (30 April 1894 – 18 January 1983) was an English journalist, politician and author. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1938 to 1950: first as an Independent Progressive advocating a Popular ...

on his programme ''The Way of the World''. In 1932, Atkinson resigned and Benzie was given his role. Her salary increased to £500 a year but this was much less than her former boss had been paid. Benzie's career continued and her salary was increased by £100 every year with a ceiling set at £1,250 per year. By 1933, Benzie was head of the foreign affairs department. She oversaw relationships with broadcasters worldwide, including for significant events such as the

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and for the

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. In 1937 she married a BBC producer,

Royston Morley John Royston Morley (25 August 1912 – 14 October 1991), was a British television producer, director and writer. He was among the earliest television producers, and also trained new producers for the BBC and in Australia. Life and career Morley ...

. They had one child, a daughter. She had to leave the BBC because of a rule against women being married to another of their employees. Another source says that she opted to leave and her resignation meal was attended by

Lord Reith Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

. The marital rule was relaxed during the war and Benzie returned to the BBC into the Radio Talks department, where she often organised talks on aspects of health. In the 1940s, Benzie produced Donald Winnicott's series "The Ordinary Devoted Mother and Her Baby". Benzie and Janet Quigley "worked with Winnicott to improve his broadcasting style" and shaped the content of the programmes. Benzie played a key role in October 1957 in the launch of ''

'' on

, which she named. She edited the programme and was its first senior producer. She took it from a programme for "people on the move" to the important step of having its own named presenter. Quigley and Benzie worked together on the programme and complemented each other's careers. They worked in the same BBC departments, had the same alma mater and witnessed each other's marriages.

Later life, death and legacy

Benzie retired in 1964 and died in St Leonards in 1988. The first and only portrait of a woman in

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

is a painting of Isa Benzie painted by Ronald Dunlop. The portrait was included in a digital project "100 Objects that made the BBC".

References

External links

Isa Benzie on the BBC online archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benzie, Isa 1902 births 1988 deaths 20th-century British women Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford British radio personalities

Early life and education

Career

Later life, death and legacy

See also

References

External links