Katharine Glasier (25 September 1867 – 14 June 1950) was an English

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician, journalist and novelist. She became a founder member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

in 1893.

Early years

Glasier was born in Stoke Newington as Katharine St John Conway, the second of seven children. Her elder brother was

Robert Seymour Conway Robert Seymour Conway, FBA (1864–1933) was a British classical scholar and comparative philologist. Born in Stoke Newington, he was the elder brother of Katharine St John Conway. He was Hulme Professor of Latin Literature, at Victoria Univ ...

, a classical scholar and comparative philologist. Their father, Samuel Conway, was a Congregationalist minister based at

Chipping Ongar Chipping Ongar () is a market town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ongar, in the Epping Forest District of the county of Essex, England. It is located east of Epping, southeast of Harlow and northwest of Brentwood. In 2020 th ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

; his wife, Amy (''née'' Curling) came from a well-off family from Stoke Newington. The family moved to Walthamstow while Katharine was young. She attended

Hackney High School for Girls Hackney may refer to: Places London * Hackney, London, a district in London * Hackney (parish), the originally medieval ancient parish * Hackney District (Metropolis), a local government district within the metropolitan area of London from 1855 ...

and then studied classics at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

with a scholarship, graduating with a second-class degree. Despite the practice at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

in not awarding degrees to women at that time, she appended the usual BA to her name.Thompson, ''The Enthusiasts,'' p. 63.

Life and career

Conway became a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

at Redland High School in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, where she was inspired to join the Bristol Socialist Society after seeing a demonstration by striking female cotton workers. She quit her job to become a teacher at a

board school School boards were public bodies in England and Wales between 1870 and 1902, which established and administered elementary schools. School boards were created in boroughs and parishes under the Elementary Education Act 1870 following campaigni ...

in Bristol and moved in with Dan Irving, where she also had to care for his wife. At this time she joined the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

. She began lecturing for the organisation, and in 1893 became a founding member of the

(ILP). She was one of the 15 members and the only woman elected to the ILP's first

National Administrative Council The National Administrative Council (NAC) was the executive council of the Independent Labour Party (ILP), a British socialist party which was active from 1893 until 1975. Creation The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was founded at a conference in ...

in January 1893. She married

John Bruce Glasier John Bruce Glasier (25 March 1859 – 4 June 1920) was a Scottish socialist politician, associated mainly with the Independent Labour Party. He was opposed to the First World War. Biography Glasier was born in Glasgow as John Bruce, but grew u ...

, a Scottish socialist politician, on 21 June 1893, but she continued to undertake lecture tours. They had three children: Jeannie, Malcolm, and John Glendower (known as Glen). In the early years of the 20th century, Glasier wrote for a number of publications. She published three novels – ''Husband and Brother'' (1894), ''Aimee Furniss, Scholar'' (1896), and ''Marget'' (1902–3) – and a collection of short stories, ''Tales from the Derbyshire Hills'' (1907). She remained prominent in the ILP and in 1916 took over from

Fenner Brockway Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (1 November 1888 – 28 April 1988) was a British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist. Early life and career Brockway was born to W. G. Brockway and Frances Elizabeth Abbey in ...

as editor of its newspaper, the ''

Labour Leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of the ...

''. Initially a highly successful editor who increased the circulation, disputes about her support for the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

s led to a decline in sales. However, her husband was terminally ill and died in 1920 and she suffered a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

in April 1921, resigning the editorship of ''The Leader'', which was taken over by H. N. Brailsford. In the 1920s, Glasier joined the Society of Friends and the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

. She became the ILP's National Organiser, but resigned in 1931 when the ILP left the Labour Party, continuing to work for the Labour Party, after a brief flirtation with the Socialist League. In 1948 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Price by Labour MP

Gilbert McAllister Gilbert McAllister (26 March 1906 – 27 May 1964) was a British Labour Party politician. He unsuccessfully contested the North Lanarkshire constituency in 1935, and came in at second at the 1937 Glasgow Hillhead by-election. At the 1945 gene ...

for her "humanitarian work in England and elsewhere".

Death and legacy

Katharine Glasier moved to Glen Cottage in

Earby Earby is a town and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, Earby has been administered by Lancashire County Council since 1974 and regularly cel ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

in 1922 and remained there until her death in 1950. Her younger son, Glen, predeceased her in 1928. After her death, Glen Cottage was donated to the Youth Hostels Association for use as a hostel. It has remained as such, although the building is now owned by

Pendle Borough Council Pendle may refer to: * Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England ** Pendle (UK Parliament constituency) * Pendle Hill in Lancashire, England ** Forest of Pendle, hilly landscape surrounding the hill * Pendle College of the University of Lancaster ...

. Among her achievements were the introduction of pit-head baths in England, the founding of the

Margaret McMillan Margaret McMillan (20 July 1860 – 27 March 1931) was a nursery school pioneer and lobbied for the 1906 Provision of School Meals Act. Working in deprived districts of London, notably Deptford, and Bradford, she agitated for reforms to ...

Memorial College in Bradford, and work for the

Save the Children Fund The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

. The

Metropolitan Borough of Islington Islington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish within the county of Middlesex, and formed part of The Metropolis from 1855. The parish was transferred to the County of London in 1889 and became ...

named after her in 1939 a block of apartments in Hazellville Road, London.

Early years

Life and career

Death and legacy

References

Further reading