Blanche Elizabeth Campbell "Baffy" Dugdale (née Balfour, 23 May 1880 – 16 May 1948) was a British author and

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...

called her, "an ardent, lifelong friend of Zionism".

Early life

She was born Blanche Elizabeth Campbell Balfour on 23 May 1880 at 32 Addison Road,

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

, London, the eldest of the five children of Eustace James Anthony Balfour (1854–1911), an architect and the youngest brother of prime minister

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As F ...

, and his wife, Lady Frances Campbell (1858–1931), daughter of

George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll George John Douglas Campbell, 8th and 1st Duke of Argyll (30 April 1823 – 24 April 1900; styled Marquess of Lorne until 1847), was a Scottish polymath and Liberal statesman. He made a significant geological discovery in the 1850s when his ten ...

. She was educated at home, and received no formal education. She was always known as "Baffy", a childhood rendering of her surname, Balfour.

Career

Dugdale worked in the

Naval Intelligence Department The Naval Intelligence Department (NID) was the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty from 1887 until 1912 when most of its subsidiary divisions were absorbed during the creation of the Admiralty War Staff department that included a new Naval ...

. She was associated with the

League of Nations Union The League of Nations Union (LNU) was an organization formed in October 1918 in Great Britain to promote international justice, collective security and a permanent peace between nations based upon the ideals of the League of Nations. The League of N ...

in various role from its founding in 1920 until it ended, and was one of the British delegates to the 1932 League Assembly. She always signed her articles Blanche E. C. Dugdale, but everyone knew her as Baffy Dugdale.

called her, "an ardent, lifelong friend of Zionism". In 1936, she published a two-volume biography ''Arthur James Balfour'' about her uncle, the Prime Minister

Personal life

Balfour married on 18 November 1902, at

St Mary Abbots St Mary Abbots is a church located on Kensington High Street and the corner of Kensington Church Street in London W8. The present church structure was built in 1872 to the designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who combined neo-Gothic and early- ...

church,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, to Edgar Trevelyan Stratford Dugdale (1876–1964), a

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...

underwriter and "name", the second son of William Stratford Dugdale of

Merevale Hall Merevale Hall is a private country house in Merevale, near Atherstone, Warwickshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The estate descends from Merevale Abbey which once stood on the site. The Manor of Merevale was granted in 1540 to Sir Walte ...

Atherstone Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire which ...

, Warwickshire. It was at her suggestion that Edgar made his abridged translation of ''Mein Kampf''.Barnes, James J.and Barnes, Patience P. (1980) ''Hitler's Mein Kampf in Britain and America: A Publishing History 1930–39'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp.3-4 They had two children, Frances and Michael, and lived at no. 1

Roland Gardens Roland Gardens (foaled 9 May 1975 – after 1993) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1978. During a racing career which lasted from 1977 until 1979 he ran sixteen times and won f ...

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

, London.

Later life

Dugdale died on 16 May 1948 (the day after she had heard that the state of Israel was established) at

Kilkerran House Kilkerran House is an 18th-century private house near Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland. It is a category A listed building set within grounds included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland. The name Kilkerran relates Campbelto ...

, by

Maybole Maybole is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of in . It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is bypass ...

, Ayrshire, the home of her daughter and son-in-law

Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet of Kilkerran, (1904–1973) was a Scottish aristocrat, broadcaster, journalist and historian. Life Fergusson was born in Dailly in Ayrshire on 18 September 1904 the son of Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet of K ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dugdale, Blanche 1880 births 1948 deaths British women writers 20th-century British biographers Blanche British Zionists People from Kensington British women biographers