Dame Penelope Jessel (2 January 1920 – 2 December 1996), was a

British Liberal Party The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Conservative Party, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Beginning as an alliance of Whigs, free trade–supporting Peelites and reformist Ra ...

politician.

Background

She was born Penelope Blackwell, a daughter of publisher Sir Basil Blackwell and Marion Christine Soans. She was educated at

Dragon School, Oxford ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

, St Leonards School, St Andrews, Fife,

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

where she received a Master of Arts and 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 ...

. In 1940 she married journalist Robert George Jessel. They had two sons, journalists David Jessel and

Stephen Jessel Stephen Jessel (born 9 August 1943) was for many years a British BBC correspondent, based between 1977 and 1995 in Paris, Beijing, Brussels, Washington DC and again Paris. He had previously worked, after leaving university, for ''The Times'' of Lon ...

. Her husband died in 1954. She was made a

Dame ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...

for political services as part of the

1987 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1987 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

Professional career

From 1940 to 1941 Jessel worked at Oxford House, London. She enlisted into the Auxiliary Territorial Service, serving from 1941 to 1943. She was a teacher at William Temple College from 1956 to 1962. In 1965 she had published ''Owen of Uppingham''. She worked as a lecturer at

Plater College Plater College was an adult education establishment which was based in Oxford, England. College history The college was founded in 1922 by the Rev. Leo O'Hea, S.J. (1881–1976), director of the Catholic Social Guild, in memory of the Father ...

, in Oxford from 1968 to 1984.

Political career

Jessel was Liberal candidate for the

Hall Green Hall Green is an area in southeast Birmingham, England, synonymous with the B28 postcode. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Historically it lay within the county of Worcestershire. Politics Hall Green is ...

division of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

at the 1964 General Election. She also fought the 1965 Birmingham Hall Green by-election. She was Liberal candidate for the Banbury division of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

at the 1966 General Election. She was Liberal candidate for the Petersfield division of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

at the 1970 General Election. She was Liberal candidate for the Wellingborough division of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

at both 1974 General Elections. She did not stand for parliament again. She was President 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 ...

from 1970 to 1972. She was President of the

Oxford Civic Society The Oxford Civic Society is a civic society that was founded in 1969 to oppose plans to build inner relief roads in Oxford, England. The Society comments on all aspects of urban planning and is a founder member of the Oxfordshire Blue Plaque ...

. She was Convenor of Trustees, for the

John Stuart Mill Institute The John Stuart Mill Institute is a non-governmental, Heidelberg-based research institute founded in 2009 and named after John Stuart Mill, an influential 19th-century English philosopher and politician. His main work “On Liberty”, published in ...

. She worked as International Officer, for the Liberal Party from 1985 to 1988.‘JESSEL, Dame Penelope’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 201
accessed 20 Feb 2015
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Electoral record

References

External links

''The Independent''. Retrieved 17 March 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jessel, Penelope 1920 births 1996 deaths Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at The Dragon School People educated at St Leonards School Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Alumni of the London School of Economics British Army personnel of World War II Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Auxiliary Territorial Service soldiers