Beatrice Frederika Wright, Lady Wright,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, formerly Rathbone, née Clough, (17 June 1910 – 17 March 2003), was an American-born British politician.

Early life

Wright was born in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, in the United States on 17 June 1910; her father was an international banker. She came to England as an exchange student at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, where she met, and in 1932 married,

John Rathbone John Rankin Rathbone (5 February 1910 – 10 December 1940) was a British Conservative Party politician. Early life He was born in 1910 to William Rathbone, a marine architect, and Agnes Dorothea Rankin. Education For his education, Rath ...

, with whom she had two children, including Tim, later MP for Lewes. Her husband was elected in 1935 as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

, but was killed in December 1940 in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, aged 30. In March 1941 she was elected unopposed as his successor and sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

for the rest of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She stepped down at the 1945 general election, after becoming the first sitting MP to give birth to a child.

Later life

In 1942, she married Paul Wright, who had a distinguished career as a diplomat and was knighted in 1975. They both converted to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. They had one child, Faith Beatrice Wright, who married firstly Julian Shuckburgh (son of

Evelyn Shuckburgh Sir Charles Arthur Evelyn Shuckburgh, GCMG, CB (26 May 1909 – 12 December 1994), better known as Sir Evelyn Shuckburgh, was a British diplomat. In the 1950s he was at the heart of affairs in London, as Principal Private Secretary to the Forei ...

), and secondly Colin Clark, younger brother of the politician and diarist

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tra ...

. She served as Vice President of the

Royal National Institute for the Deaf The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), known as Action on Hearing Loss from 2011 to 2020, is a charitable organization working on behalf of the UK's 9 million people who are deaf or have hearing loss. History The Royal National I ...

from 1978 to 2003. In 1996, she was appointed an

. In 1982, she co-founded the charity

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People Hearing Dogs for Deaf People is a UK charity which trains dogs to alert deaf people to a variety of sounds. The Charity's dogs provide emotional support through companionship, and practical support by alerting deaf people to life-saving sounds ...

, along with vet Dr.

Bruce Fogle Bruce Fogle, (born 17 February 1944) is a vet and author of pet care books and travel narratives. Canadian by birth, he has lived and worked in London for over 40 years. Early life and education Fogle was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, w ...

(father of

Ben Fogle Benjamin Myer Fogle, (born 3 November 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer and adventurer, best known for his presenting roles with British television channels Channel 5, BBC and ITV. Early life Fogle is the son of English actress Julia F ...

), serving as the charity's president until 1988. The charity's northern training centre, in

Bielby Bielby is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The village is situated about south of Pocklington. According to the 2011 UK census, Bielby parish had a population of 258, a decrease on the 2001 UK census fig ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, is named the Beatrice Wright Training Centre after her, and her daughter Faith Clark served as trustee and chairman of the charity between 2002 and 2022. An American-born woman would not be elected to Parliament again until 2019, when another Conservative,

Joy Morrissey Joyce Rebekah "Joy" Morrissey (''née'' Inboden, 30 January 1981) is an American-born British politician who has served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaconsfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

, was elected in that year's general election for

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

References

External links

Beatrice Wright (Beatrice Rathbone)
at the Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics
Obituary, Sir Paul Wright
''Daily Telegraph'', 13 June 2005

''The Times'', 30 June 2005
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
* 1910 births 2003 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Bodmin Members of the Order of the British Empire Converts to Roman Catholicism English Roman Catholics UK MPs 1935–1945 Rathbone family Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies 20th-century British women politicians Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford American emigrants to the United Kingdom American women philanthropists Catholics from Connecticut English women philanthropists Founders of charities Philanthropists from Connecticut Politicians from New Haven, Connecticut 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century women philanthropists {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1910s-stub