Frances Jane Mansbridge (''née'' Pringle; 19 September 1875''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 24 July 1958) was a British educationist who co-founded the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) with her husband, Albert Mansbridge (1876–1952).

Biography

Frances Jane Pringle was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

to John, a clerk born in Ireland, and Frances Soper Pringle, from

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. The family returned to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England, when she was small. She became engaged to Albert Mansbridge when they were both Sunday school teachers. In July 1900, in St Mark's Church in the Parish of

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

, London, she and Albert were married by Canon Charles Gore. Together with friends, Albert and Frances formed the Christian Economics Society. On 16 May 1903, Frances and Albert founded an association to promote the Higher Education of Working Men, which became the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) in 1905, using two shillings and sixpence from the housekeeping money. In 1907, the WEA convened a women's group which developed into the Women's Advisory Committee; the members including Frances Mansbridge,

Maude Royden Agnes Maude Royden (23 November 1876 – 30 July 1956), later known as Maude Royden-Shaw, was an English preacher, suffragist and campaigner for the ordination of women. Early life and education Royden was born in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, the ...

and Margaret MacDonald. In 1945, the couple went into semi-retirement at

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. Frances died in 1958 in Ealing, London, aged 82.

Travel

In September 1910 the Mansbridge family visited Mediterranean Ports on a seven-week voyage on a small tramp steamer with Albert as Purser, Frances as Stewardess and their son as honorary Assistant Purser. Albert and Frances arrived in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 8 July 1913 on a seventeen-week mission aimed at forming branches of the association in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Victoria,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, followed by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

during a two-day visit. Leading up to and 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 ...

Frances administered the WEA Comradeship Fund which helped people who were experiencing hard times. In December 1925 on a lecture tour with Albert to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the US, Frances was persuaded to lecture, mainly to women's groups, and in 1929 Frances delivered speeches when they were in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Family

Their son, as John Mansbridge, became an artist and painted portraits of Charles Gore, his father and many others. He designed posters for the Underground Group and London Transport and he was an official

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 opposin ...

War Artist and worked to develop

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

. In 1947 he was a founder member of the

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

Art Society. In the 1970s John was the

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

tutor at the Barnet Branch of the WEA. He wrote ''The Graphic History of Architecture'' and illustrated ''The Story of the First Christmas Morning'' written by Minnie Lake. He became Head of

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

and died in 1981.

Commendations

Albert recognised that without Tot, his

pet name A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for I ...

for Frances, he could never have achieved his successes. Linda Reeves, a great niece of Albert, remembers them as Aunt Tot and Uncle Bert when she was taken to visit them at High Wycombe. She stated "His wife Frances must have been as dynamic as he. She helped him set up the WEA and also lectured abroad."Discovering family links to WEA By Barbara Ward http://www.newarkadvertiser.net/newtiser/features/2003/family%20links.htm

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansbridge, Frances 1875 births 1958 deaths Workers' Educational Association 20th-century British educators 20th-century women educators British women educators People from Cape Town British people of Irish descent Adult education leaders