Elizabeth Leigh Hutchins (20 April 1858 – 17 October 1935), also known as B. L. Hutchins, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

social researcher and socialist activist. Born in Hanover Square in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Hutchins was educated privately and at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, then as one of the first students at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

(LSE). Hutchins developed an interest in socialism, joining the

Women's Industrial Council The Women's Industrial Council (WIC) was a British organisation active from 1894 to about 1917, promoting the interests of women at work. Federation The organisation originated as the Women's Trade Union Association, founded by Clementina Black i ...

in 1899 and the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

in 1900. She wrote more than twenty works on matters relating to women's work, including ''History of Factory Legislation'', and ''Women in Modern Industry''. In this work, she championed laws protecting women's working conditions, including

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

s, and criticised some middle class feminists for opposing these. She served on the executive of the Fabian Society from 1907 until 1912, and lectured at King's College on behalf of the Women's Industrial Council. After

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 ...

, Hutchins focused her time on 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 ...

, and she also funded a permanent scholarship at the LSE. She remained active in the Fabian Society, and was a member of the committee of the

Fabian Women's Group Fabian may refer to: People * Fabian (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Pope Fabian (died 250), Catholic saint * Fabian Forte (born 1943), 1950s American teen idol, singer and actor, known by the mononym Fabian * ...

until her death in 1935.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchins, Barbara Leigh 1858 births 1935 deaths Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the London School of Economics Members of the Fabian Society