Eirene White on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Eirene Lloyd White, Baroness White (née Jones; 7 November 1909 – 23 December 1999) was a 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 and journalist.
Early life
White was born in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
, the daughter of
Dr Thomas Jones, commonly known as "TJ", a noted civil servant, educationalist and friend of the establishment. She was educated at
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.
History
St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part o ...
, London, and
Somerville College, Oxford, where she read
Philosophy, Politics and Economics. She spent a year in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
before working for the
New York Public Library. Back in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, she studied housing policies and the problems of the homeless.
Career
During
World War II
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 opposing ...
, White joined the
Women's Voluntary Service
The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...
and became
Welsh Regional Secretary. She was recruited by the
Ministry of Labour
The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...
to help with the training of workers in Wales, particularly women, for the war effort.
She also worked as a civil servant at the
Board of Education until 1945 and after the War as a political correspondent for both the ''
Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...
'' and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. In 1948, she married fellow
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. T ...
lobby correspondent John Cameron White.
White stood in the
1945 general election
The following elections occurred in the year 1945.
Africa
* 1945 South-West African legislative election
Asia
* 1945 Indian general election
Australia
* 1945 Fremantle by-election
Europe
* 1945 Albanian parliamentary election
* 1945 Bulgarian ...
in
Flintshire
, settlement_type = County
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, image_flag =
, image_shield = Arms of Flint ...
without success. She was elected a member of the Labour Party's
National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties:
* National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa
* Australian Labor Party National Executive
* Nationa ...
in the women's section in 1947. She was elected Labour MP for
East Flint in 1950, one of the first female MPs in Wales. An early
private member's bill encouraged the government to relax
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
laws. Annoyed by fights between left and right, she stepped down from the NEC in 1953 but returned in 1959 until 1972.
When Labour came to power under
Harold Wilson in 1964, White became
parliamentary under-secretary at the
Colonial Office
The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of c ...
, in 1966
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...
for
Foreign Affairs and in 1967 Minister of State at the
Welsh Office
The Welsh Office ( cy, Swyddfa Gymreig) was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State f ...
for three years. White managed to hang on to her marginal constituency for 20 years, at one election by just 72 votes.
White served as chairman of 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. T ...
and of the Labour Party NEC 1968–9. She was a governor of the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
and a member of the board of
Trade Films Council.
In 1970, she retired from the House of Commons and was created a
life peer on 12 October 1970 taking the title Baroness White, ''of
Rhymney in the
County of Monmouth''. Later posts included president of
Coleg Harlech
Coleg Harlech was a residential adult education college for mature students in Harlech, Gwynedd, later on part of Adult Learning Wales - Addysg Oedolion Cymru.
History
It was Wales' only long-term, mature-student residential education colle ...
and governor of the
National Library of Wales. She was chairman of the
Land Authority for Wales (1976–80), deputy chairman of the
Metrication Board (1972–76), and a member of the
Royal Commission on Environment Pollution (1974–81). She was Deputy Speaker of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
from 1979 to 1989. She was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) from the
University of Bath
(Virgil, Georgics II)
, mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind
, established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
in 1983.
On 10 June 2022, a
purple plaque was unveiled at
Flint Town Hall in her honour, recognizing the fact that she was one of the first three women to represent Wales in the UK Parliament, and indeed Wales's only female MP for ten years.
Personal life
In 1948, she married fellow
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. T ...
lobby correspondent John Cameron White (1911–1968). They had no children.
Death
She died, aged 90, in
Abergavenny.
A viewfinder monument was erected on the summit of
Allt yr Esgair
Allt yr Esgair is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales. It is commonly referred to locally as simply 'The Allt'. The Welsh name signifies 'wooded slope of the ridge'. It takes the form of a northwest-southeast aligned ridg ...
393 metres/1290 feet (Grid Ref SO126243).
References
*
External links
*
* https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/dec/27/guardianobituaries Obituary in The Guardian
Eirene White Papersat the
National Library of Wales
Eirene Whiteat the
Dictionary of Welsh Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Eirene
1909 births
1999 deaths
20th-century British women politicians
Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
Chairs of the Fabian Society
Chairs of the Labour Party (UK)
Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies
White, Eirene White, Baroness
Members of the Fabian Society
Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970
UK MPs 1950–1951
UK MPs 1951–1955
UK MPs 1955–1959
UK MPs 1959–1964
UK MPs 1964–1966
UK MPs 1966–1970
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Welsh Labour Party MPs
20th-century British journalists