Florence Priscilla, Lady Norman,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, JP (née McLaren; 1883 – 1 March 1964,

Antibes Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice. The town of ...

) was a British activist and suffragist.

Background

Lady Norman was an active supporter of women's suffrage but not a militant. She held the post of Hon. Treasurer of the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union. Like her grandparents who started

Bodnant Garden Bodnant Garden ( cy, Gardd Bodnant) is a National Trust property near Tal-y-Cafn, Conwy, Wales, overlooking the Conwy Valley towards the Carneddau mountains. Founded in 1874 and developed by five generations of one family, it was given to the N ...

, Priscilla was a keen

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. When she and her husband acquired

Ramster Ramster Garden is an open garden, near Chiddingfold, Surrey, covering over . First landscaped and laid out in the 1890s by Gauntlett Nurseries

Hall, Surrey she was instrumental in setting out

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

s and

azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...

s in the gardens. The gardens were opened to public view under the National Gardens Scheme from 1927 and continue to be opened under that scheme.

Politics

Like her mother, she was active in the cause of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

through the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union and 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 ...

. During the

First World War 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 ...

, she ran a voluntary hospital in Wimereux, France with her husband. She was awarded the Mons Star for her services and created a

for her war services. After the creation of the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

in 1917 she became chair of one of its subcommittees and was instrumental in ensuring that the contributions of women during the war were recorded and included in the museum's collections. Having an interest in mental health issues, she became the first woman to be appointed to the board of the

Royal Earlswood Hospital The Royal Earlswood Hospital, formerly The Asylum for Idiots and The Royal Earlswood Institution for Mental Defectives, in Redhill, Surrey, was the first establishment to cater specifically for people with developmental disabilities. Previously ...

in 1926. During the

Second World War 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 ...

she was a driver for the Women's Voluntary Service in London. The archives of Lady Norman are held at the Women's Library in London.

Family

Priscilla was the fourth child and second daughter of

Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway Charles Benjamin Bright McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway, (12 May 1850 – 23 January 1934), known as Sir Charles McLaren, 1st Baronet, between 1902 and 1911, was a Scottish jurist and Liberal Party politician. He was a landowner and industriali ...

and

Laura Elizabeth Pochin Laura Elizabeth McLaren, Baroness Aberconway CBE, DStJ (née Pochin; 14 May 1854 – 4 January 1933) was a British suffragist, author and horticulturalist. Life Her birth was registered in the Salford district of Lancashire on 14 May 1854. She w ...

. Her brothers were the Liberal politicians Henry D McLaren and

Francis McLaren Francis Walter Stafford McLaren (16 June 1886 – 30 August 1917) was a British Member of Parliament killed in the First World War in a flying accident. Career A younger son of Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway, he attended Eton College, Et ...

. In 1907 she married, as his second wife, Sir Henry Norman, 1st Baronet, a noted journalist and then

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP for Wolverhampton South, who lost this seat in the first election of 1910 but then gained Blackburn in the second election of that year. Amongst the causes Sir Henry helped promote as a politician was women's suffrage.

References

Sources

thePeerage.com
*

External links

National Portrait Gallery
* Lives of the First World Wa

* Imperial War Museums record

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Priscilla McLaren 1883 births 1964 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Daughters of barons English suffragists Liberal Party (UK) politicians McLaren family Priscilla Wives of baronets English justices of the peace