Ethel Snowden
Ethel Snowden, Viscountess Snowden (born Ethel Annakin; 8 September 1881 – 22 February 1951), was a British socialist, human rights activist, and
Snowden married the prominent
Early life
Ethel Annakin was the daughter of Richard Annakin, a building contractor. Her father also became involved in politics and later served as an Alderman of Harrogate,[2] becoming Mayor of the town in 1930–31.[3] She is described by Philip Snowden's biographer Colin Cross as a "woman of strong will and striking good looks". She trained as a teacher at Edge Hill College in Liverpool, and while there joined the congregation of radical preacher Rev. Charles Frederic Aked (1864–1941);[4] after listening to his sermon on "Can a Man be a Christian on £1 a week?" she became a socialist and joined with Aked's social work in the slums of Liverpool promoting teetotalism. She also joined the Fabian Society.[5]
According to her future husband, the Labour politician
Marriage
A story told within the ILP and generally believed was that Ethel had proposed to Philip, which was against the marriage customs of the time.[1] They had a quiet wedding with few guests at the registry office in Otley on 13 March 1905, with Philip Snowden explaining that they had learned that their socialist friends in the West Riding were planning a 'Socialist demonstration' at what they were hoping would be a family celebration.[6] It is also thought that both families were opposed, and Philip Snowden did not tell his mother until he sent a telegram after the marriage had taken place. There was no honeymoon. Snowden subsequently tried to make friends with Martha but never entirely succeeded, with Martha frequently criticising her for concentrating on her own political career to the detriment of looking after her husband (who had long-term mobility difficulties).[8]
Ethel and Philip Snowden set up home at Spencer Place in Leeds, and Ethel began to earn an income from lecture fees. She was interviewed for the woman's page of the Blackburn Weekly Telegraph where her husband was
Woman's suffrage
After 1906 Snowden became increasingly active in supporting women's suffrage, being one of the national speakers for the
During a 1910 trip to the United States, Ethel Snowden was interviewed and sketched by Marguerite Martyn of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. During the interview, Snowden mocked anti-suffrage parliamentarian Rowland Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer, by affecting an accent and, as Martyn put it:[16]
Standing stiffly as if suffering from a choking parliamentary collar, adjusting an imaginary monocle, producing imaginary notes from an imaginary Prince Albert coat pocket, clearing her throat and "er-ing" and "aw-ing" prodigiously, Mrs. Snowden proved herself an accomplished mimic and actress. [Adjacent image.]
In 1914 Ethel Snowden was speaking at 200 public meetings a year on the subject, and temporarily resigned from the Independent Labour Party in order that her political allegiance did not cause problems with her campaigning on the issue.[17]
Pacifism
The Snowdens left Britain for a long, world-wide, lecture tour in July 1914; while they were in Canada, news came of the outbreak of war. Philip Snowden asked whether he should return but was told not to, possibly because of his known pacifism which Ethel shared. While in
Russia
At the end of the war, Snowden was elected to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party in its Women's Section. This position made her a very prominent figure within the left-wing movements and led to a great deal of foreign travel, including to Bern and Vienna (to try to re-establish the Socialist International), Palestine, Georgia and twice to the United States. Most notably, she was named to a joint TUC-Labour Party delegation to Russia in early 1920 which was sent to be an impartial inquiry into the Bolshevik Revolution.[22] After her return she published a book, Through Bolshevik Russia, which revealed her own findings. Although she liked Lenin ("the merry-eyed fanatic of the Kremlin"), her general reaction was profoundly critical. She upbraided a Bolshevik who told a public meeting that a British revolution would start in three months, insisting that "we want power, but we do not want a revolution", and observed that "Everyone I met in Russia outside the Communist Party goes in terror of his liberty or his life". She had told a reporter for the Evening Standard on her return that "I oppose Bolshevism because it is not Socialism, it is not democracy and it is not Christianity", and likened working conditions to slavery.[23]
Snowden's denunciations of the Soviets made her unpopular with the left within the Labour movement and resulted in her being voted off the National Executive Committee in 1922.[24] Her prominence led to invitations to stand for Parliament. Snowden refused to stand in Plymouth Devonport against Lady Astor on grounds that Astor's service was invaluable.[25] She was selected at one point as Labour Party candidate for Leicester East, but gave up the candidature when a by-election was called there in Spring 1922 (the Labour candidate won).[26]
Social rise
With Philip Snowden back in Parliament for
Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin appointed Ethel Snowden a governor of the newly established British Broadcasting Corporation in 1926, as a representative of women and of Labour; the appointment carried an annual salary of £750. She quarrelled with Sir John Reith at her first meeting and they continued to feud throughout her term, with Reith trying to get rid of her. Snowden was given the credit[34] for the fact that no alcoholic drinks could be found in the newly built Broadcasting House, and she appeared to confirm her responsibility for this state of affairs.[35] When the Labour government was formed in 1929, the Snowdens finally moved to 11 Downing Street, where they found that the cost of employing eight servants and official entertaining required dipping into their savings. While no alcoholic drink was served, Ethel hosted many tea parties and evening receptions with musical and artistic guests (some in the Labour Party noted that few MPs or even other Ministers had been invited).[36] She seems to have persuaded her husband to give an Exchequer grant to support the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and became a director of the new company formed to manage it.[37]
Viscountess
Philip Snowden was seriously ill in early 1931, and apparently decided not to stand again for Parliament but to go to the House of Lords.[38] He confirmed his decision to stand down in August, shortly before the collapse of the Labour Government,[39] and was not a candidate in the general election although playing an active part in the campaign. When the award of a Viscountcy was announced in the Dissolution Honours List, Ramsay MacDonald was reported to have said that Snowden's desire for a Peerage came from his wife.[40] Ethel became Viscountess Snowden on 24 November 1931.[2]
The Snowdens found their financial position gradually eroding after 1931. Ethel's five-year appointment at the BBC expired at the end of 1931 and was renewed for only one year,[41] but after Philip Snowden resigned from office over the principle of free trade that was their only regular income. When the appointment came up again, MacDonald did not renew it, a move was ascribed to personal spite. The Snowdens had to fund Eden Lodge, a London flat, and the costs of caring for Philip, who now needed constant medical attention. Philip Snowden turned back to journalism, penning increasingly bitter attacks on MacDonald.[42] By 1936 he was immobile and being cared for by Ethel and some nurses whom she supervised at Eden Lodge; he continued to keep up with politics. Ethel attended the Coronation ceremonies of 12 May 1937 without him; Philip died three days later.[43] She had him cremated at Woking, and the ashes scattered on the open moor at Ickornshaw above his birthplace; his books were given to Keighley Public Libraries where they formed the 'Viscount Snowden Memorial Library'.[44] She destroyed his remaining papers.[45]
Later life
Viscountess Snowden moved to a flat in
Snowden suffered a severe stroke in 1947 which left her disabled and permanently resident in the Warleigh Nursing Home in Wimbledon, although her mind remained active. She sent a letter of support to Conservative Party candidate Cyril Black, a teetotaller, in Wimbledon at the 1950 general election. Her father died that year at the age of 93, and she outlived him by only a few months, dying aged 69. Her will was worth £23,279, the majority being the money she had earned in her early career. After cremation her ashes were scattered on the same moor as her husband.[49] Her collection of books joined those of her husband at Keighley Library.
There is a Halls of Residence called Snowden at Edge Hill University in her honour.[50]
Books and pamphlets
Books
- The Woman Socialist, 1907
- The Feminist Movement, 1913
- Through Bolshevik Russia, 1920[51]
- A Political Pilgrim in Europe, 1920
Pamphlets
- Women:A Few Shrieks, 1907
- Women and the State, 1907
- British Standards of Child Welfare, 1926
- Welfare as Tested by ’The Declaration of Geneva’, 1926
References
Notes
- ^ Clynes, who was Lord Privy Seal and responsible for conducting government business in the House of Commons, lived at 11 Downing Street during the first Labour government.[30]
Citations
- ^ a b c Cross, p. 62.
- ^ CP2nd ed., vol. XIII, p. 498.
- ^ "'Hearts of Oak,' Too", Manchester Guardian, 16 May 1930, p. 11.
- ^ Washington Times, September 8, 1908.
- ^ Cross (1966), pp. 60–61
- ^ a b "An Autobiography, by Philip, Viscount Snowden", vol 1, Ivor Nicholson and Watson, 1934, p. 112.
- ^ Cross (1966), pp. 61–62
- ^ Cross (1966), pp. 62–63
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 64
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 68
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 69
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 80
- ^ Cross (1966), pp. 90–91
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 90
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 92
- ^ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 6, 1910.
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 113
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 132–3
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 152
- ^ "Women's International League". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
- ^ Cross, p. 157. Snowden pronounced 'love' to rhyme with 'curve'.
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 168
- ^ Cross (1966), pp. 169–70.
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 171
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 181
- ^ "Mrs Philip Snowden and Parliament", Manchester Guardian, 24 October 1922, p. 8.
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 186
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 190
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 228
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 199
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 81
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 200
- ^ Cross (1966), pp. 213–214.
- ^ Or blame, as the case may be.
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 231
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 242
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 243
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 269
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 295
- ^ Cross, p. 324, citing Arthur Baker, "The House is Sitting", 1958.
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 327
- ^ Cross (1966), pp. 332–332.
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 340
- ^ Cross (1966), pp. 341–342.
- ^ Cross, Introduction, p. ix.
- ^ Cross (1966), pp. 342–3
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 342
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 343
- ^ Cross (1966), p. 344
- ^ "Living on Campus".
- Archive.org
Bibliography
- Cross, Colin (1966), Philip Snowden, Barrie & Rockliff, ISBN 0-214-15512-9
- OCLC 1764810.
- .
External links
- Media related to Ethel Snowden at Wikimedia Commons
- Works by or about Ethel Snowden at Wikisource
- Works by or about Ethel Snowden at Internet Archive
- Works by Ethel Snowden at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)