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Violet Rosa Markham (October 1872 – 2 February 1959) was a writer, social reformer, campaigner against women's suffrage and administrator. She grew up near Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Actively involved in community and welfare work, she held a number of public positions, including in educational administration, and social assistance and poverty relief bodies. Despite her opposition to
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
, she stood for election as a
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 ...
candidate in the 1918 General Election, without success, and later served as town councillor and the first female mayor of Chesterfield. Her writings on her travels and an autobiographical work, among others, were published during her lifetime. Markham married James Carruthers in 1915; he died in 1936.


Background and early life

Violet Markham was the daughter of Charles Paxton Markham, part owner of the profitable Markham Collieries and Markham & Co. Engineering of Chesterfield. Her mother was a daughter of Sir
Joseph Paxton Sir Joseph Paxton (3 August 1803 – 8 June 1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Member of Parliament. He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde ...
, designer of the Crystal Palace, the centrepiece of the Great Exhibition of 1851. When a friend of her late father died in 1901, Violet inherited enough money to live an independent life and devote her wealth to causes she supported, as well as to buy her own house in London.


Politics and activism


Community work

Her first interest was education. Markham was a member of the Chesterfield Education Authority from 1899 to 1934, and in 1902 she was the founder President of the Chesterfield Settlement, an educational foundation for the local community which existed until 1958. While travelling to South Africa in the summer of 1899, Markham met Lady Edward Cecil. The two became good friends, and together created the Victoria League in 1901. Later she became involved in
public service A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing available to private busin ...
in different sectors. At the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, she became a member of the Executive Committee of the National Relief Fund, established to alleviate distress caused by the war. The fund dispensed aid to service families and dependents, as well as civilians. The experience of this organisation left her with a lifelong interest in reducing the effects of poverty and unemployment, especially with regard to women. In 1914 she became a member and later chairman of the Central Committee of Women's Training and Employment, which in 25 years trained nearly 100,000 women, mainly for domestic service. In 1917 she was made deputy director of the women's section of the National Service League, and was one of the first recipients of the
Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an Order (distinction), order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the Brit ...
. In 1920 she began a long period as a member of the Industrial Court, and became a member of the
Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
's Advisory Committee for Women Justices. In 1934, she became a member of the Unemployment Assistance Board, becoming Deputy chairman in 1937 – "probably the most important administrative post up to that time that had been held by a woman", according to her obituary 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 ...
''. When the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
began, it was inevitable that her talents would be called on. She organised an all-night canteen for the poor of South London. She was on the appeal tribunal of the Defence of the Realm Regulations, and in 1942, she was asked to produce a report on allegations of immorality in the women's services. In 1945 she produced a report with Florence Hancock on the postwar organisation of domestic service.


Electoral politics

Markham was also active politically. In the 1918 General Election, she stood as the official Liberal candidate for the
Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...
Division of
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
. (The Coalition Coupon went to Jarrett); She was elected as a town councillor for Chesterfield in 1924, and served as the first female Mayor of Chesterfield in 1927. It would be 39 years before Chesterfield had another female Mayor. Violet Markham
British Library, accessed 23 August 2008


Views

Despite being a social reformer, Violet Markham was strongly opposed to women being given the vote. She addressed an anti-suffrage meeting at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
on 28 February 1912 (publicised in a letter to ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
'' published on 10 February 1912) which had been organised by the
National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage The National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage was founded in London in December 1910 to oppose the extension of the voting franchise to women in the United Kingdom. It was formed as an amalgamation of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League ...
. Markham told the audience that the views of the women's suffrage movement "fly in the face of hard facts and natural law." She went on to say that, "We believe that men and women are different – not similar – beings, with talents that are complementary, not identical, and that they therefore ought to have different shares in the management of the State, that they severally compose. We do not depreciate by one jot or tittle women’s work and mission. We are concerned to find proper channels of expression for that work. We seek a fruitful diversity of political function, not a stultifying uniformity." Although Markham opposed women's suffrage, Mary Stocks, herself a women's suffrage supporter, considered her to be "the best feminist I've ever known, a real feminist". The idea that there should also be Girl Scouts, as counterpart to the new Boy Scout Movement, following their appearance at the 1909 Crystal Palace Rally, met with Markham's strong disapproval, as expressed in ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
''.


Personal life

Markham travelled extensively abroad. Among her friends was the Canadian politician Mackenzie King, whom she met in 1905 and with whom she kept up an active correspondence for 45 years. King visited her when he was in England and she visited him on her occasional trips to Canada. She sent him money on a number of occasions, notably after his electoral defeat in 1911, and again to provide medical treatment for his brother who was suffering from
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
. In 1923, the Canadian government appointed her to represent them on the governing body of the
International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...
in Geneva. In 1915, Markham married Lieutenant-Colonel James Carruthers, but she continued to be known by her maiden name. She accompanied her husband to
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, when he was stationed there as chief demobilisation officer for the British Army of the Rhine, following the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Her husband was subsequently a racehorse owner, who died suddenly at Ayr Racecourse in 1936. She wrote several books, includin
''Paxton and the Bachelor Duke''
a biography of her grandfather (1935), her autobiography
''Return Passage''
(1953), an

(1956).


References


Sources

* Archive.org ttps://archive.org/ ''(sign in to view links and sources)''*Helen Jones (Editor): ''Duty and Citizenship – The Correspondence and Papers of Violet Markham, 1896–1953'' * ttps://www.thetimes.co.uk/imagine ''The Times (of London)'' ttps://www.thetimes.com/archive ''Digital Archive''


Primary Sources

* Markham, Violet
''South Africa, Past and Present''
(1900) * Markham, Violet
''The New Era in South Africa''
(1904) * * Markham, Violet
''The South Africa Scene''
(1913) * Markham, Violet
''Watching on the Rhine''
(1921) * Markham, Violet, "The Factory and shop acts of the British Dominions : a handbook" (1922) * Markham, Violet
''Romanesque France''
(1929) * Markham, Violet, "Paxton and the Bachelor Duke" (1935) * Carruthers (formerly Markham), Violet, "May Tennant: a portrait" (1949) * Markham, Violet
''Return Passage''
(1953) an autobiography * Markham, Violet, "Friendship's Harvest" (1956) * Markham, Violet, & Jones, Helen, "Duty and citizenship : the correspondence and political papers of Violet Markham, 1896-1953" (1994)


External links


Catalogue of the Markham papers
at th

of the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
.
''The Times (of London)''''Links to Violet Markham news stories''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Markham, Violet Rosa Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour 1872 births 1959 deaths People from Chesterfield, Derbyshire Mayors of Chesterfield Women mayors of places in England Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Markham family British anti-suffragists