Ida Swinburne was a British documentary film producer and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician.

Background

Ida Swinburne was born in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

, London, the eldest daughter of Sir James Swinburne, 9th Baronet, F.R.S., of Inverness-shire and Lilian Gilchrist Carey. She had two older half-brothers, Anthony Swinburne and Spearman Charles Swinburne and a younger sister, Marjorie Swinburne. She lived with her parents in East Surrey for 20 years. She was educated at Irwin House and the

Manor House A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25.

. In July 1929 she married Douglas Ronald Spen Steuart. They moved to Bramham Gardens, in South West London. They divorced in 1945. She then married in July 1945, Cmdr. Daniel Harvey Rainier, DSC, RN. They lived at

Strone Strone ( gd, An t-Sròn) is a village on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands at the point where the north shore of the Holy Loch becomes the west shore of the Firth of Clyde. The village lies within the Loch Lomond ...

, North Knapdale by Lochgilphead,

Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

. He died in March 1965 and she died the following year.

Political career

In 1928 Ida Swinburne was a Liberal

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

candidate for Camberwell North West. She was unsuccessful. She was selected as prospective Liberal parliamentary candidate for the safe Conservative seat of

East Surrey East Surrey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Claire Coutinho, a Conservative. The seat covers an affluent area in the English county of Surrey. Since its creation in 1918, East Surrey has e ...

in March 1929, a constituency that the Liberals had not contested at the previous election. The General Election was almost immediately called and she had only two months to put her case across. Although she had previously lived in the constituency for 20 years, she had little opportunity to build a local profile. She highlighted her interest in industrial questions, free trade and education. She achieved a respectable second place vote, pushing the Labour candidate into third place. She was re-adopted as prospective Liberal candidate for East Surrey in 1930. She remained Liberal candidate until withdrawing in October 1931 due to the formation of the National Government. She did not stand for parliament again. She continued to be active in the Liberal Party and was a member of the national executive of the

Women's Liberal Federation The Women's Liberal Federation was an organisation that was part of the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom. History The Women's Liberal Federation (WLF) was formed on the initiative of Sophia Fry, who in 1886 called a meeting at her house of fi ...

. She was also a member of the

Eighty Club The Eighty Club was a political London gentlemen's club named after the year it was founded, 1880 (much like the later 1900 Club and 1920 Club). It was strictly aligned to the Liberal Party, with members having to pledge support to join. Somew ...

.The Liberal Year Book, 1929

Electoral record

Professional career

With her husband Ronald, Ida Steuart created Steuart Films. They produced a number of documentary films in the 1930s. She served in World War II as a 1st Officer in the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinburne, Ida 1899 births 1966 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Royal Navy personnel of World War II Daughters of baronets Women's Royal Naval Service officers