Mary Gammell Pease (11 December 1861 – 23 February 1950), known as Marjorie Pease, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Born Mary Gammell Davidson in

Kinfauns Kinfauns was a large 1950s deluxe bungalow in Esher in the English county of Surrey, on the Claremont Estate. From 1964 to 1970, it was the home of George Harrison, lead guitarist of the Beatles. It was where many of the demo recordings for t ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, she was educated at

Cheltenham Ladies College Cheltenham Ladies' College (CLC) is a private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 or older in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic education for girls". It is also a member ...

, where she qualified as a teacher. She then worked at several schools in London where she joined the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

in 1886. Through the society, she met

Edward R. Pease Edward Reynolds Pease (23 December 1857 – 5 January 1955) was an English writer and a founding member of the Fabian Society. Early life Pease was born near Bristol, the son of devout Quakers, Thomas Pease (1816–1884) and Susanna Ann F ...

and the two married in 1889. At this time Mary adopted the first name "Marjorie".Margaret Cole, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.II, pp.297-298 After marrying, Pease worked as an assistant to her husband who was the secretary of the Fabians. In the early 1900s she formed a women's

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

group for

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge District, Tandridge district of Surrey, England. It is at the foot of the North Downs, south-east of Croydon, west of Sevenoaks, and north of East Grinstead. Oxted is a commuter town and Ox ...

and

Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25 road, A25.Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, where she was then living. In 1907, she formed a Kent and Sussex branch of the Land Club League, which later became part of the Land and Home League, with Pease as its honorary secretary. In 1911, Pease was elected to Godstone Rural District Council and successfully campaigned for the council to become one of the first to build

municipal housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a combination thereo ...

. She also became a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

and sat on numerous local committees. In 1918, she left the Liberals and joined the Labour Party. She stood for her new party in

East Surrey East Surrey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Claire Coutinho, a Conservative who formerly served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The seat covers an affluent area in t ...

at the

1922 United Kingdom general election The 1922 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 15 November 1922. It was won by the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law, which gained an overall majority over the Labour Party, led by J. R. Clynes, and ...

. She was not elected and thereafter devoted her time to the Fabians, with a particular focus on local government matters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pease, Marjorie 1861 births 1950 deaths Councillors in Surrey Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Liberal Party (UK) councillors Members of the Fabian Society People educated at Cheltenham College People from Perthshire Women councillors in England