
Lady Frances Balfour (née Campbell; 22 February 1858 – 25 February 1931) was a British aristocrat, author, and suffragist. She was one of the highest-ranking members of the
British aristocracy
The British nobility is made up of the peerage and the gentry of the British Isles.
Though the UK is today a constitutional monarchy with strong democratic elements, historically the British Isles were more predisposed towards aristocratic gove ...
to assume a leadership role in the
Women's suffrage campaign in the United Kingdom. Balfour was a member of the executive committee of the
National Society for Women's Suffrage
The National Society for Women's Suffrage Manchester Branch
The National Society for Women's Suffrage was the first national group in the United Kingdom to campaign for women's right to vote. Officially formed on 6 November 1867, by Lydia Becker ...
from 1896 to 1919. As a
non-violent
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
suffragist, she was opposed to the militant actions of the
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...
, whose members were called the
suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
s.
Life
The tenth child of British
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist.
* An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...
politician and
Scottish peer George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll
George John Douglas Campbell, 8th and 1st Duke of Argyll (30 April 1823 – 24 April 1900; styled Marquess of Lorne until 1847), was a Scottish people, Scottish polymath and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal statesman. He made a significant geological ...
, and his wife,
Lady Elizabeth Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (eldest daughter of the
2nd Duke of Sutherland), she was born at Argyll Lodge in
Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, London.
Lady Frances Campbell had a
hip joint
In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint o ...
disease and from early childhood was in constant pain and walked with a limp. Her parents were deeply religious and involved in several different campaigns for social reform. She reportedly helped with these campaigns as a child, for example by knitting garments to be sent to the children of former slaves after
slavery was formally banned by the government within the
British territories in 1833.
In 1879, she married
Eustace Balfour
Colonel Eustace James Anthony Balfour (8 June 1854 – 14 February 1911) was a London-based Scottish architect. The brother of one British Prime Minister and nephew of another, his career was built on family connections. His mother was ...
, a London-based Scottish architect. Eustace's uncle,
Lord Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...
, had served three terms as Britain's prime minister. Her brother-in-law,
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...
, was also a
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 ...
British prime minister from 1902 to 1905. However, in opposition to the Conservative politics of her husband's family, Balfour, along with both her parents, supported Liberal statesman
William Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party.
In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...
and his government when she was a young woman. Lady Frances Balfour and her husband never overcame these political differences and spent less and less time together.
Suffrage
Balfour was the only member of the aristocracy to have a leadership role in the British women's suffrage campaign. She began her work for women's suffrage in 1889, when she became the constitutionalists' main liaison with
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. In 1897, she became a member of the executive committee of the newly formed
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In March 1919 it w ...
(NUWSS), whose President was Mrs.
Millicent Garrett Fawcett
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English political activist and writer. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897–1919 led Brita ...
, and served in this capacity from its inception until some women got the vote in 1918. She was also the President of the
London Society of Women's Suffrage, the largest single suffrage group in Britain, from 1896 to 1919. In addition, she served as President of the Lyceum Club, which rendered services to professional women, from 1903 to 1915. When her work for votes for women was almost over, Frances joined the
National Council of Women in 1917, and served as president from 1921 to 1923.Lady Frances published six books, including her autobiography ''Ne Obliviscaris (Dinna Forget)'' and she was joint editor of ''Women and Progress'' with
Nora Vynne
Eleanora Mary Susanna Vynne (31 October 1857 – 18 February 1914) was a British novelist and political activist. She was a leading member of the Freedom of Labour Defence who argued for equal rights for women in the workplace.
Life
Vynne wa ...
. The magazine was dedicated to achieving equal citizen rights for men and women. They were happy to see younger women excluded from having the vote, as long as it applied equally to young men as well. The magazine appeared to be about to be a success when shortage of funds obliged it to fold in June 1914.
Today the magazine serves as a good source of early
suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
history.
Lyceum Club
The writer
Constance Smedley
Anne Constance Smedley (20 June 1876 – 9 March 1941) was a British artist, playwright, author and founder of the International Association of Lyceum Clubs.
Life
Smedley was born in Handsworth near Birmingham in 1876. Her well-off and educat ...
had decided to start a new type of club for women. Another proposed founder, Jessie Trimble, proposed that the new club be called the
Lyceum Club, and the new committee arranged for Smedley to meet Lady Frances Balfour. The committee had decided to extend their net for new members from writers, to professional women and even the daughters or wives of prominent men. In 1903, Balfour agreed to lead the new club and served as their chair for 15 years. Her vice chair-man was
Enid Moberly Bell, daughter of
Charles Frederic Moberly Bell
Charles Frederic Moberly Bell (2 April 1847, Alexandria5 April 1911, London) was a British journalist and newspaper editor. He was the managing director of ''The Times'' during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where his innovations include ...
, editor of ''
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 ...
''.
Death
She died in London on 25 February 1931 from
bronchial pneumonia
Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014
It is ofte ...
and heart failure, and was buried at
Whittingehame
Whittingehame is a parish with a small village in East Lothian, Scotland, about halfway between Haddington and Dunbar, and near East Linton. The area is on the slopes of the Lammermuir Hills. Whittingehame Tower dates from the 15th century a ...
, the Balfour
family home in
East Lothian
East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921.
In ...
, Scotland.
Publications
* Dr Elsie Inglis (1920)
* The Life of George, Fourth Earl of Aberdeen (1923)
* Lady Victoria Campbell: a memoir (1911)
* A Memoir of Lord Balfour of Burleigh, KT. (1924)
* The Very Rev. Principal Story, D.D. (1909)[No, she published Dr MacGregor of St Cuthberts: A Memoir in 1912. Principle Story was a memoir by Dr. Story's daughters.
* Life and Letters if the Reverend James MacGregor (1912)
* Ne Obliviscaris. Dinna Forget. (1930)
* In Memoriam the Lady Frances Balfour, 1881-1931 (Newspaper cuttings compiled by the Committee of the Travellers' Aid Society (1931)
Distinctions
* She received honorary degrees from the University of Durham (DLitt 1919) and from the University of Edinburgh (LLD 1921)
* Her name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the plinth of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and ...
, London, unveiled in 2018.
External links
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, Frances
1858 births
1931 deaths
19th-century English women writers
20th-century English memoirists
20th-century English women writers
Writers from London
English people with disabilities
British royalty and nobility with disabilities
Daughters of British dukes
British feminist writers
British suffragists
British nonviolence advocates
Women of the Victorian era
Liberal Party (UK) politicians
Frances
Frances is an English given name or last name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'the French.' The male version of the name in English is Francis (given name), Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "F ...
Frances
Frances is an English given name or last name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'the French.' The male version of the name in English is Francis (given name), Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "F ...
Deaths from pneumonia in England
Deaths from bronchopneumonia
British women memoirists
Presidents of the National Council of Women of Great Britain
National Society for Women's Suffrage
English people of Scottish descent
British politicians with disabilities