Margaret Elinor Burns (née Enfield; 17 May 1887 – 2 November 1978) was a British communist, co-operative activist and suffragist.

Life and career

Born in Loughborough, she was the sister of Honora Enfield. She attended Newnham College, Cambridge, and there joined the Fabian Society. While there, she met fellow student

Emile Burns Bernard Emile Vivian Burns (16 April 1889 – 29 November 1972) was a British communist, economist, translator and author as an active member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Early life and family Emile Burns was born in Basseterr ...

, and the two married on 8 November 1913. They had two children, Susannah and Marca. The family moved to London around the end of World War I, where Elinor and Emile joined the Independent Labour Party. Elinor also joined the Edmonton Co-operative Society and the Women's Co-operative Guild. In 1920, the Edmonton Co-operative became part of the new

London Co-operative Society The London Co-operative Society (LCS) was a consumer co-operative society in the United Kingdom. History The Society was formed in September 1920 by the amalgamation of the Stratford Co-operative Society and the Edmonton Co-operative Society, ...

(LCS), of which she was a founder member. In 1923, Elinor joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

(CPGB), along with Emile. Starting in 1926, she wrote the ''Colonial Series'' of books for the Labour Research Department, about British imperialism. Burns focused much of her time on the LCS, and during World War II represented it on bodies such as the Food Control Tribunal and the Insurance Tribunal. In 1943, she was elected to the national executive of the CPGB. She retained her seat on the board of the LCS when other Communists were removed from the organisation's panel of speakers in 1949. She argued that the co-operative movement should expand its influence through vertical integration, co-operative shops selling products of co-operative farms and factories. She also argued that, in order to achieve emancipation, women should involve themselves in the co-operative movement and also join the CPGB. From 1945, the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were m ...

'', associated with the CPGB, was published by the

People's Press Printing Society The People's Press Printing Society (PPPS) is a readers' co-operative with the purpose of owning and publishing a left-wing, British, daily newspaper. The co-operative was established in 1945, with shares sold at £1. Originally the paper was title ...

. Burns was a founding member of its management committee, and twice served as its vice-chair. In 1956, although Burns again stood for the executive of the CPGB, she was not put on the party's approved list, and was one of two sitting members to lose their seats.

Writing

* "Franchise Reform. The Speaker's Conference and Women", in ''The Newcastle Journal'', 11 November 1916 * "Equal Terms for Votes. Women and Their Rights as Citizens", in ''The Newcastle Journal'', 1 March 1917 * "Franchise Reform", in The Oxfordshire Weekly News'', 11 April 1917 * "Women in Commerce: Interview with Lady Mackworth", in ''Common Cause'', 13 April 1917 * "Education" in ''The Making of Women'' (1917), (Oxford Essays in Feminism, Allen and Unwin), ed Victor Gollancz * ''Equal Pay and the Family'' (1918), with K. D. Courtney,

H. N. Brailsford Henry Noel Brailsford (25 December 1873 – 23 March 1958) was the most prolific British left-wing journalist of the first half of the 20th century. A founding member of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage in 1907, he resigned from his job a ...

Eleanor Rathbone Eleanor Florence Rathbone (12 May 1872 – 2 January 1946) was an independent British Member of Parliament (MP) and long-term campaigner for family allowance and for women's rights. She was a member of the noted Rathbone family of Liverpool. E ...

, Maude Royden,

Mary Stocks Mary Danvers Stocks, Baroness Stocks (née Brinton; 25 July 1891 – 6 July 1975) was a British writer. She was closely associated with the Strachey, the Wedgwood and the Ricardo families. Her family was deeply involved in changes in the Victoria ...

and

* ''British Imperialism in China'' (1926) * ''British Imperialism in Malaya'' (1926) * ''British Imperialism in West Africa'' (1927) * ''British Imperialism in Egypt'' (1928) * ''British Imperialism in Ireland'' (1931) * ''Class Issues in the Irish Free State'' (1933) * ''The Co-operatives in the Peace Front'' (1950) * ''The Co-ops and the Crisis'' (1952) * ''A Call to Co-operators'' (1954)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Elinor 1887 births 1978 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Communist Party of Great Britain members People from Loughborough Women's suffrage in England Co-operative Women's Guild