Mary Somerville,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(1 November 1897 – 1 September 1963) was the first Director of Schools Broadcasting at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

(1925–1949). She pioneered their school broadcasting program in the 1930s and 1940s, and later served as controller of the BBC Talks division.

Early life

Mary Somerville was born in New Zealand on 1 November 1897, as the eldest daughter of the Reverend James Alexander Somerville and his wife Agnes Fleming. She was raised in Scotland, and attended

Somerville College Somerville College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The college's liberal tone derives from its f ...

, where she completed an English degree. While at school, she met and impressed John Reith; already convinced of the potential for radio in education, she offered to work unpaid for the BBC. Reith advised her to stay at Oxford and "take a degree" before joining the BBC. On Reith's recommendation, she was hired in 1925, and began working for the BBC's Education Department under

J. C. Stobart John Clarke Stobart (5 March 1878 – 11 May 1933), commonly known as J. C. Stobart, was a classical scholar, a University of Cambridge lecturer, an HM Inspector of Schools and the BBC's first Director of Education. Early life Known as 'Jack' to h ...

BBC career

In 1929, Somerville was named Director of School Broadcasting, a position which she held until 1947. She believed firmly in the value of radio programming to enrich children's educational experiences, which she considered overly rigid at the time; under her tenure, school radio programs began to use dramatizations and sound effects to enliven their lessons. Somerville worked hard to ensure that BBC school broadcasting was held to high academic standards and was seen as a legitimate enterprise, fighting against skeptics who considered radio to be good for entertainment only. In 1947, Somerville was appointed assistant controller to the Talks division. On 1 July 1950, she became controller of the division, a position she held until her retirement from the BBC in December 1955. She was the first woman controller of a BBC division.

Personal life

Somerville was married to journalist Ralph Penton Brown from 3 July 1928 to 1945, when the marriage was dissolved. She had one son with John Freeman. She was allowed to maintain her position at BBC after her marriage as the BBC's marriage bar, enacted in 1933, allowed women of exceptional value to remain with the Corporation. The marriage bar stated that "the retention of women after marriage is to be regarded as the exception," and Somerville was deemed to have the exceptional qualities required. On 20 July 1962, she married Eric Rowan Davies, a BBC producer. She was diabetic, and "used to alarm BC producer LeonieCohn by casually yanking up her skirts during Talks meetings and injecting herself with insulin." In 1935, she was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in recognition of her efforts. She received an honorary MA degree from the University of Manchester in 1943. She died at her home in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

on 1 September 1963. Obituaries were published in ''

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 ...

'' (written by Reith) and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. A forty-minute commemorative programme was broadcast by the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

on 31 May 1964.

Early life

BBC career

Personal life

References

External links