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Janet Muriel Alexander Quigley
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(1902–1987) was a British radio broadcaster associated with the ''
Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
'' programme and ''
Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...
''.


Life

Quigley 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 Kingdo ...
in 1902, in the then
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. She went to college in
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, England, at
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. Quigley joined the BBC in 1930 and she was responsible for "talks" aimed at women. She was the fourth woman in this role since the first women's talk in 1923. The first was Ella FitzGerald who continued until 1926 when
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MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
took over. There was an overlap with Margery Wace OBE in 1930-31 and Quigley took over the role in 1936. Quigley was given an
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
for her work organising talks on the radio during the war. She contacted
Clemence Dane Clemence Dane CBE is the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton (21 February 1888 – 28 March 1965), an English novelist and playwright. Life and career After completing her education, Dane went to Switzerland to work as a French tutor, but returned ...
and asked her to contribute to her Sunday morning series, which she did, and later Quigley invited her on ''Woman's Hour''.
BBC WAC, 16 April 1942, Clemence Dane to Janet Quigley. Retrieved 1 June 2018
She contacted
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who had worked with Clare Britton, a psychiatric social worker treating children who had become evacuees. His first series of talks in 1943 was titled "Happy Children", Quigley offered him total control over the content of his talks but this soon became more consultative as Quigley advised him on the correct pitch. Quigley left the BBC in 1945 to marry Kevin Fitzgerald who gave talks for the BBC as well as being an Irish businessman and thriller writer. He and Quigley went to live in Ireland where she became a step mother to her husband's daughter. The BBC flagship radio programme ''
Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...
'' had been created by
Norman Collins Norman Richard Collins (3 October 1907 – 6 September 1982) was a British writer, and later a radio and television executive, who became one of the major figures behind the establishment of the Independent Television (ITV) network in the ...
October 1946 - Woman's Hour - The first dedicated radio programme for women
11 March 2013, BBC, Retrieved 4 March 2017
and was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on 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. ...
...
's
Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...
. Despite this, Quigley has been credited with "virtually creating" the programmeKevin FitzGerald
Obituary, The Independent, Retrieved 4 March 2017
even though she did not become its editor until 1950. Quigley believed that "hush-hush" subjects should be discussed openly as an example to the "less educated" to show that they were not taboo. However, memos involving Quigley show that she did lead a campaign against the popular children's author,
Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have be ...
, talking on ''Woman's Hour'' despite requests to appear from her and BBC listeners since 1938. Quigley resisted requests from her own producers and asked the BBC Schools department to review her policy.Jean Sutcliffe explains the policy regarding Enid Blyton
BBC, Retrieved 3 March 2017
Quigley joined BBC management in 1956 and she and
Isa Benzie Isa Donald Benzie (4 December 1902 – 25 June 1988) was a British radio broadcaster. She played a key role in the launch of ''Today'' on BBC Radio 4, and served as its first senior producer. Early life and education Benzie was born in 1902 in ...
played a key role in the launch of ''
Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
'' on
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. Quigley also took a key role in launching the world's first national radio programme for blind people which was named '' In Touch''.Paul Donovan, ‘Quigley, Janet Muriel Alexander (1902–1987)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 4 March 2017
/ref> Quigley retired from the BBC in 1962 but she continued to do work for ''Woman's Hour''. In time, the programme broadcast twenty books that she had edited so that they could be serialised. Quigley died at Oxford's
John Radcliffe Hospital The John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe, an 18th-century physici ...
in 1987. She was survived by her husband.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quigley, Janet 1902 births 1987 deaths BBC Home Service British radio personalities Mass media people from Belfast Woman's Hour