Thelma Cazalet
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Thelma Cazalet-Keir
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 ...
(née Cazalet; 28 May 1899 – 13 January 1989) was a British
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
politician.


Early life

Thelma Cazalet was born in London, the third child - of four - and only daughter, of William Marshall Cazalet (1865–1932), and Maud Lucia, née Heron-Maxwell (died 1952). Her father was a wealthy socialite, and in her childhood she met many leading figures of the day, including
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
,
Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was a campaigning English feminist and socialist. Committed to organising working-class women in London's East End, and unwilling in 1914 to enter into a wartime political truce with ...
and
Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...
. Her mother was a feminist
Christian Scientist Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...
and a strong influence on her daughter. Her eldest brother, Edward, was killed in the Great War, serving as an officer in the newly formed Welsh Guards, at
Fricourt Fricourt () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Fricourt is situated on the D147 and D64 junction, some northeast of Amiens. History Fricourt is about a kilometre from Mametz. It was close to ...
in 1916; the middle brother,
Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
, served and survived and was also awarded the
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...
; the youngest,
Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...
, was still a schoolboy. Cazalet was educated at home by governesses, and later attended lectures at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
. She was a close friend of
Megan Lloyd George Lady Megan Arvon Lloyd George, (22 April 1902 – 14 May 1966) was a Welsh politician and the first female Member of Parliament (MP) for a Welsh constituency. She also served as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, before later becoming a Labo ...
, the daughter of
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...
and later a
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) herself.


Political career

Cazalet entered local politics in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, where the family had their country house,
Fairlawne Fairlawne is a Grade I listed house in Shipbourne, Kent, England, about 30 miles southeast of central London. The Fairlawne Estate is extensive and stretches to Plaxtol. Architecture Fairlawne was rebuilt for Sir Henry Vane the Elder in 1630–5 ...
, in
Shipbourne Shipbourne ( ) is a village and civil parish situated between the towns of Sevenoaks and Tonbridge, in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in the English county of Kent. In 2020 it was named as the most expensive village in Kent. It is located i ...
. Then, in 1924, she was elected to the
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 ...
, remaining a councillor for seven years, until she became an
alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
in 1931. In 1931, Miss Cazalet stood for Parliament at the Islington East by-election, finishing third in a four-way contest. She was soon back in the
Islington East Islington East was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United ...
constituency, contesting the
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
in October of the same year, when she gained the seat for the Conservatives from the by-election winner,
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 ...
's
Leah Manning Dame Elizabeth Leah Manning DBE (''née'' Perrett; 14 April 1886 – 15 September 1977) was a British educationalist, social reformer, and Labour Member of Parliament (MP) in the 1930s and 1940s. She organised the evacuation of orphaned or at ...
. She then held the seat until her defeat at the 1945 general election, when the seat went to the Labour candidate, Eric Fletcher. In the Commons, she joined her brother
Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
, the Member for
Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
, in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. On the outbreak of the Second World War, her brother - retaining his seat 'for the duration' - returned to military service, but this time he too was killed, in
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
in 1943. Thelma's youngest brother, Peter, also served in this war and survived. He fought in
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
in 1944, as a Guards officer, reaching the rank of Major. He made his name in the world of horse-racing, initially as an amateur rider, nearly winning the
Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...
, but then as a trainer. After the war, Major Peter Cazalet resumed his career as a trainer and became the trainer for Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...
. Just as Cazalet was thwarted in winning the Grand National as a rider, he was famously denied the victory as a trainer, when
Devon Loch Devon Loch (1946–1963) was a racehorse, which fell on the final straight while leading the 1956 Grand National. Owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and ridden by Dick Francis, Devon Loch had won two races already that season and finishe ...
, ridden by
Dick Francis Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winni ...
, fell 50 metres from the winning-post, in the
1956 Grand National The 1956 Grand National was the 110th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 24 March 1956. It is probably best remembered for Devon Loch's sudden and inexplicable fall on the final stra ...
.


Later life

In August 1939, she married
David Edwin Keir David Edwin Keir MBE (12 March 1906 – 9 June 1969), was a Scottish journalist and Liberal Party politician. Background Keir was born the son of Rev. Thomas Keir of Dumfries and Edinburgh and Lily Jane Cross, of Bath. He was educated at Dumfr ...
, a parliamentary correspondent. Partly for feminist reasons but partly for practical political name-recognition, she now became known as Mrs. Cazalet-Keir. There were no children. Her proposed amendment to the Education Bill, demanding for equal pay for women teachers, passed by one vote on 28 March 1944.
Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
made the amendment a matter of confidence, and attended in person to ensure its defeat on 30 March. This was one of the events which made Churchill and the Conservatives appear reactionary, contributing to their election defeat in 1945. Outside of parliament, Cazalet-Keir was a member of the Arts Council and, later, a Governor of the
BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...
. In recognition of her public service, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1952. Cazalet-Keir was a keen feminist and supported the
Fawcett Society The Fawcett Society is a membership charity in the United Kingdom which campaigns for women's rights. The organisation dates back to 1866, when Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's suffrage. Originall ...
, becoming the President of the organisation in 1964. She was also a devoted supporter of the
Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...
, which collaborated with her in her equal pay campaign. In 1967, she wrote her autobiography. For many years, she lived in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, at Raspit Hill, not far from her childhood home, but when she was widowed, in 1969, she sold the house and its 75 acres to
Malcolm MacDonald Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle U ...
, and moved to her
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
flat in
Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...
. She died in 1989 at
Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia ...
at age 89.


References

*
Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
: Thelma Cazalet-Keir *''From the Wings: An Autobiography'' by Thelma Cazalet-Keir (The Bodley Head, London, 1967) * * Howard, Anthony ''RAB: The Life of R. A. Butler'', Jonathan Cape 1987 *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cazalet-Keir, Thelma 1899 births 1989 deaths Members of London County Council Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Politics of the London Borough of Islington Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English feminists 20th-century British women politicians
Thelma Thelma is a female given name. It was popularized by Victorian writer Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel ''Thelma (novel), Thelma''. It may be related to a Greek word meaning "will, volition" see ''thelema''). ...
Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 20th-century English women 20th-century English people Women councillors in England