Caroline Middleton DeCamp Benn (13 October 1926 – 22 November 2000), formerly Viscountess Stansgate, was an educationalist and writer, and wife of the British

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

(formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate).

Biography

Benn was born Caroline Middleton DeCamp in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, the eldest daughter of Anne Hetherington (''née'' Graydon) and James Milton DeCamp, a Cincinnati lawyer."Caroline Benn. Obituary"
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'', 24 November 2000. Retrieved 10 January 2021. Educated at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

(BA, 1946) and the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

(BA, 1948), she travelled to the United Kingdom in 1948 to study at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and voted for Henry Wallace, the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

candidate in that year's American Presidential election. She gained an English MA on Jacobean drama (specifically on the

masques The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...

of Inigo Jones) at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in 1951. She met Benn over tea at Worcester College, Oxford, in 1949, and just nine days later he proposed to her on a park bench in the city. Later, he bought the bench from

Oxford City Council Oxford City Council is the lower-tier local government authority for the city of Oxford in England, providing such services as leisure centres and parking. Social Services, Education and Highways services (amongst others) are provided by Oxfor ...

and installed it in the garden of their house in Holland Park. In June 1999, on their golden

wedding anniversary A wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the date a wedding took place. Couples may take the occasion to celebrate their relationship, either privately or with a larger party. Special celebrations and gifts are often given for particular an ...

, she put on the red striped dress she had worn that night. She had four children –

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, Hilary,

Melissa Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant ''Me ...

and Joshua – and ten grandchildren. Benn devoted her life to

comprehensive education Comprehensive may refer to: * Comprehensive layout, the page layout of a proposed design as initially presented by the designer to a client. *Comprehensive school, a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement ...

and was co-founder of the Campaign for Comprehensive Education. She sent her own children to

Holland Park School Holland Park School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form in Holland Park, London, England. In 2013, it has attained academy status. Opened in 1958, the school became the flagship for comprehensive education, and at one time had ove ...

, one of the first

comprehensive schools A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is re ...

in the country. In 1970, she wrote alongside Professor

Brian Simon Brian Simon (26 March 1915 – 17 January 2002) was an English educationist and historian. A leading member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, his histories reflected a Marxian interpretation. Background and early life The younger son of ...

, ''Halfway There'' – the definitive study of the progress of comprehensive reform in the UK. This was followed up in 1997 with ''Thirty Years On'', which she co-wrote with Professor Clyde Chitty. Her widely respected and authoritative biography of the

founder

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

was published in 1992. As well as writing extensively about education, Benn held a number of other positions: She was a member of the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

from 1970–77, an ILEA Governor at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, a tutor at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

, a lecturer at Kensington and Hammersmith Further Education College from 1970–96, a governor of

for thirty-five years (serving thirteen of those as chair of the governors), and president of the Socialist Education Association. Benn played an important role in her husband's political career. She was popular with his colleagues and her views were respected. She is personally credited with having suggested the title of the Labour Party manifesto for the 1964 general election; she proposed ''The New Britain'', and it eventually became ''Let's Go With Labour for the New Britain''. She supported her husband's proposals in the 1980s for Labour's leadership and direction. However, she was also able to provide constructive criticism throughout his political career, such as his 1998 ITN documentary. Benn was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 1996, having been unwell for about a year, but fought the illness for several further years. She became increasingly frail during 2000, having developed spinal

metastases Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then ...

, and died at

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

Hospital, London, on 22 November 2000. ''A Tribute to Caroline Benn: Education and Democracy'', edited by her daughter and Clyde Chitty, was published in 2004, featuring essays on her life and on educational reform and her life's work.

Publications

* ''Comprehensive School Reform and the 1945 Labour Government'' (1980), History Workshop Journal * ''Lion in a Den of Daniels'' (1962), a novel * ''Halfway There: Report on the British Comprehensive School Reform'' (1970), with Professor Brian Simon * ''Higher Education For Everyone'' (1982) * ''Keir Hardie: A Biography'' (1992) * ''Thirty Years On'' (1997), with Professor Clyde Chitty

References

External links

Tribute to Caroline Benn

Caroline Benn
at Google Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Benn, Caroline 1926 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American women writers Academics of the Open University Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of University College London American emigrants to England Caroline Comprehensive education Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from breast cancer English educational theorists People associated with Imperial College London Writers from Cincinnati University of Cincinnati alumni Vassar College alumni Stansgate Tony Benn