Cicely Musgrave Craven (23 March 1890 – 9 February 1962) was a British educator, magistrate, and prison reformer.

Early life

Cicely Musgrave Craven was born near Kendal, Westmorland, the daughter of Robert Musgrave Craven and Margaret Gibbons Craven. Her father was a medical examiner. She was educated at

Wycombe Abbey Wycombe Abbey is an independent girls' boarding and day school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls schools in academic results. The school was founded in 1896 by Dame Frances Dove (1847 ...

school, and at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, where she studied history from 1909 to 1912. (Her degree was not granted until 1920, when women were first allowed to receive Oxford degrees.) She also earned a London teaching credential.

Career

Craven taught history at Winchester Girls’ High School in 1914 and 1915, and at Grey Coat Hospital School in 1916. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she worked at the Ministry of Pensions and the Ministry of Labour. In 1926, with no previous engagement in the cause of prison reform, Craven replaced Margery Fry as secretary of the Howard League for Penal Reform. She was also editor of the '' Howard Journal''. In this role, she testified in parliamentary hearings, gave interviews, wrote for periodicals and professional journals, conducted summer schools, and worked with other organizations on common causes. She took particular interest in preventive and remedial approaches to

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

. She retired from the Howard League in 1950, and was succeeded by the League's first full-time paid secretary, Hugh Klare. Craven was appointed justice of the peace for

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

in the 1930s, and was district councillor for the same city from 1928 to 1932. She was also active in the St Albans Housing Association.

Personal life

Craven lived with her sister, Millicent Musgrave Craven, a social worker, in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

. Cicely Craven died there in 1962, aged 71 years, from cancer. Her correspondence with Scottish nationalist

William Gillies William Gillies (1865–1932) was a Scottish patriot and a socialist. He helped to form the Scots National League, which joined with other bodies to form the National Party of Scotland, which in turn evolved into the Scottish National Party (SNP ...

on Palestine penal code is preserved in the Labour History Archive and Study Centre at the People's History Museum in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

References

External links

* 1890 births 1962 deaths Prison reformers {{Use dmy dates, date = August 2019 People from Kendal English educators British women in World War I