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Judith Hubback (born Eläis Judith Fischer Williams; 23 February 1917 – 6 January 2006) was a British analytical psychologist and sociologist noted for her early studies into women and work.


Early life and family

Eläis Judith Fischer Williams was born on 23 February 1917, the third daughter of the international lawyer Sir
John Fischer Williams John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
, CBE, KC (1870–1947) and his wife, the artist Eleanor Marjorie Hay Murray (1880–1961).Barbara Wharton, "Obituaries: Judith Hubback", ''Journal of Analytical Psychology'', vol. 51, no. 2 (2006), pp. 321–324."Papers of Judith Hubback: Background and administrative history"
''ArchivesHub''. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
Her elder sister was the historian and civil servant
Jenifer Margaret Hart Jenifer Hart, née Jenifer Margaret Fischer Williams (31 January 1914 – 19 March 2005), was an English academic and senior civil servant. At one time she was accused of having been a spy for the Soviet Union, a claim which she always denied ...
(also the wife of H. L. A. Hart). Judith grew up in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
and learnt to speak
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
fluently. She studied at
Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...
, graduating in 1936 with a first-class
honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...
(BA) in history. While there, she met David Hubback (died 1991), the son of Eva Hubback, and they married in 1939; the couple went on to have one son and two daughters."Judith Hubback"
''The Independent'', 10 March 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2018.


Career


Teaching, married life and social studies

Hubback was a teacher until her first child was born; even then she had faced discrimination while applying for teaching posts as a married woman, and she was frustrated that she could not even indulge in details of her husband's work (he was a civil servant and could not talk about his confidential work with her).Barbara Wharton and Jan Wiener
"Judith Hubback"
''The Guardian'', 7 February 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
With the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, employment opportunities for women (which had been substantially expanded to meet wartime demands) contracted; the social expectations that women would become full-time mothers once they had children also acted as a cultural barrier to employment. In the late 1940s, Judith Hubback became aware of her mother-in-law, Eva Hubback's, social studies on working-class housewives and took an interest in replies to her surveys.Helen McCarthy
"Social Science and Married Women's Employment in Post-War Britain"
'' Past and Present'', vol. 233, no. 1 (2016), p. 280.
She became increasingly interested in women's attitudes towards work and self-funded her own postal surveys as part of a project to explore the lives of highly educated, married women in Britain. She published the results of her surveys in 1954 as a pamphlet, ''Graduate Wives'', which attracted coverage in national newspapers. She followed it up in 1957 with a much more substantial book: ''Wives Who Went to College'', described by ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'' as "considerably ahead of its time". In the words of the historian
Helen McCarthy Helen McCarthy (born 27 February 1951) is the British author of such anime reference books as ''500 Manga Heroes and Villains'', ''Anime!'', ''The Anime Movie Guide'' and ''Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation''. She is the co-author of ...
, Hubback was one of a number of researchers in the 1950s (such as Viola Klein,
Pearl Jephcott Agnes Pearl Jephcott (1 May 1900 – 9 November 1980), known by her middle name Pearl, was an English social researcher and girls' club organiser. Early life, education and girls' club organising Jephcott was born on 1 May 1900 in Alcester, Warwi ...
, Ferdynand Zweig, Nancy Seear and
Hannah Gavron Hannah Gavron ( he, חנה גברון; born Ann Fyvel; 1936 – 14 December 1965) was a Mandatory Palestine-born British sociologist. Life and work Ann Fyvel was born in British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel) in 1936, the daughter of M ...
) who "helped to entrench new understandings of married women’s employment as a fundamental feature of advanced industrial societies, and one that solved the dilemmas of ‘modern’ woman across social classes." She reported the frustrations of highly qualified women who felt constrained to stop working once they married or to care for their children; she concluded that women who sacrificed themselves and their capacity for self-actualisation to become full-time mothers and wives instead were "often too self-sacrificing in the sense that they let themselves drift into a state of mind in which their daily lives gradually destroy them as individuals". Hubback argued that women could balance motherhood, marriage and work only through the full support of their husbands. ''Wives Who Went to College'' was the subject of much discussion: it received 87 reviews in published material and was the subject of leading articles in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...
'' and ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...
''.


Analytical psychology and later life

Despite her work (which included freelance broadcasting and journalism), she continued to feel deeply unsatisfied with aspects of her life: "she was unsatisfied and sometimes depressed, knowing that she had unrealised potential." She visited Robert Hobson, a Jungian
psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...
, and became sufficiently interested in the subject that she qualified with the
Society of Analytical Psychology The Society of Analytical Psychology, known also as the SAP, incorporated in London, England, in 1945 is the oldest training organisation for Jungian analysts in the United Kingdom. Its first Honorary President in 1946 was Carl Jung. The Societ ...
in 1964; she was heavily involved with the Society, serving as its Honorary Secretary for a time, as co-editor of the '' Journal of Analytical Psychology'' (1976–85) and as the Society's representative on the committee of the
International Association for Analytical Psychology The International Association for Analytical Psychology (IAAP) is the international accrediting and regulatory body for all Jungian societies and groups of analytical psychology practitioners, trainees and affiliates. Analytical psychology was ...
(1986–92). Judith Hubback died on 6 February 2006, her husband having predeceased her, and was survived by her three children. She donated her papers to the
Women's Library The Women's Library is England's main library and museum resource on women and the women's movement, concentrating on Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has an institutional history as a coherent collection dating back to the mid-1920s, ...
Archive at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...
in 1997 (they are catalogued a
GB 106 7JUH
.


BBC TV appearance

Judith Hubback was a contributor to a
BBC-TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
programme, entitled "The Meaning of Dreams", presented by comedian and naturalist
Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English writer, comedian, songwriter, musician, artist, birder, conservationist, television presenter and actor. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinton ...
, which aired on 16 April 1986.The Times
Internet Archive 16 April 1986">The Times">The Times
Internet Archive 16 April 1986/ref>


Publications

Hubback published her professional papers in 1988 as: * ''People Who Do Things to Each Other'' Her literary output includes: * ''Islands and People'' (1964), containing poetry * ''The Sea Has Many Voices'' (1990), a novel which received the Society of Authors' Sagittarius Prize, Sagittarius prize in 1991. * ''From Dawn to Dusk'' (2003), an autobiography


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubback, Judith 1917 births 2006 deaths British psychoanalysts Jungian psychologists British women writers British women academics British sociologists Family sociologists British women sociologists 20th-century British women scientists