Sophia Lonsdale
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Sophia Lonsdale (1852-1936) was a British philanthropist and social activist.


Life

Lonsdale was the daughter of John Gylby, canon of Lichfield and Sarah Martineau, née Jardine. Her elder sister, Margaret Lonsdale, would be a nurse and writer. She was also the granddaughter of Anglican bishop
John Lonsdale John Lonsdale (17 January 1788 – 19 October 1867) was an English clergyman, who was the third Principal of King's College, London, and later served as Bishop of Lichfield. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, an ...
. A vocal
anti-suffragist Anti-suffragism was a political movement composed of both men and women that began in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. To ...
, Lonsdale's name appeared on the list of signatories to "A Woman's Protest Against Female Suffrage" published in ''
The Nineteenth Century ''The Nineteenth Century'' was a British monthly literary magazine founded in 1877 by James Knowles. It is regarded by historians as 'one of the most important and distinguished monthlies of serious thought in the last quarter of the nineteent ...
'' in 1889. Lonsdale was an early organizing member of the
Women's National Anti-Suffrage League The Women's National Anti-Suffrage League (1908–18) was established in London on 21 July 1908. Its aims were to oppose women being granted the voting, vote in parliamentary elections, although it did support their having votes in local govern ...
and part of the group's executive committee together with Mary Ward. Her letter published in ''The Times'' in 1907 encouraged readers to sign a petition against the woman's vote, which was presented to Parliament after collecting 37,000 signatures. In 1892, Lonsdale opened a girls' high school in Lichfield which would eventually become
The Friary School The Friary School (formerly Friary Grange) is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. The school became an arts and sports college in 2006 and despite this status being withdrawn by the DofE in 201 ...
. Much of her work focused on
poor relief In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
, as a member of the
Charity Organization Society The Charity Organisation Societies were founded in England in 1869 following the ' Goschen Minute' that sought to severely restrict outdoor relief distributed by the Poor Law Guardians along the lines of the Elberfeld system. In the early 1870s, ...
and
board of guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...
member of the
Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...
union. Lonsdale published ''The English Poor Laws: Their History, Principles, and Administration'' in 1902. She wrote the Introduction to ''The Slippery Slope, and Other Papers on Social Subjects'' by William Amias Bailward, published in 1920. Her memoirs, ''The Recollections of Sophia Lonsdale'', were edited by her cousin Violet Martineau (1865-1948) and published in 1936.


References

{{Authority control 1852 births 1936 deaths Founders of English schools and colleges 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century British women philanthropists British anti-suffragists