Kathleen Mary 'Kay' Beauchamp (27 May 1899 – 25 January 1992) was a leading light in the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

in the 1920s. She helped found ''The Daily Worker'' (later '' The Morning Star'') and was a local councillor in

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the southeastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manorialism, Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man c ...

Biography

She was born to a farming family at Welton Manor Farm, Midsomer Norton,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

on 27 May 1899. She was sister of Joan Beauchamp, later Joan Thompson, who became a prominent

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

and associate of Sylvia Pankhurst. The family was part of the Beauchamp family that dominated the Somerset coalfield, her father being the cousin of Sir Frank Beauchamp and Louis Beauchamp who owned coalmines in the area. Her mother died in 1904 when Kay was only four. She completed a degree in history at University College, London in 1924. In that year she married bookseller and bibliographer Graham Pollard, son of Professor

Albert Pollard Albert Frederick Pollard (16 December 1869 – 3 August 1948) was a British historian who specialised in the Tudor period. He was one of the founders of the Historical Association in 1906. Life and career Pollard was born in Ryde on the ...

. She joined the Communist Party, for which she served as International Secretary. She was one of the eight Party members who produced the first ever edition of ''The Daily Worker'' (later '' The Morning Star''), which appeared on 1 January 1930. As its Managing Director she was jailed for contempt of court when the paper described the conviction of Wal Hannington, an unemployed workers' leader, as a "frame-up". She worked as a teacher and was also involved with the Communist Party's Education Department. During the 1930s and 1940s, she worked closely with Harry Pollitt, organising hunger marches, solidarity work for the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and the campaign for the Second Front in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, she was elected a local Councillor in

. She also served as International Secretary of the Communist Party. In this role she made several visits to Africa. She was involved in the Movement for Colonial Freedom (MCF), founded in 1954, and worked with

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

, Jomo Kenyatta and other future leaders of emergent Africa. In 1972 her first marriage was dissolved and she married Tony Gilbert. She continued to be active in politics for the rest of her life. She died on 25 January 1992.

Publications written by Kay Beauchamp

* ''Leninism ~ a syllabus'' (1940) * ''Our Borough - an introductory discussion syllabus. On the government of the borough of Finsbury'' (1945) * ''Canvassing'' (1945) * ''Fascism and how to defeat it'' (1959) * ''We can get those deep shelters'' (1961) * ''Black citizens'' (1973) * ''Report of Liberation Conference to isolate and defeat racism'' (1977) * ''One race, the human race'' (1979) * ''Ethiopia: An African Giant Awakens'' ith Tony Gilbert(1985) * ''Racism: A Threat to World Peace'' – ith Amanda Mensah(1986) * ''Ring Around the Carnival'' ith Maggie Chetty(1986)

References

External links

Interview of Kay Beauchamp for oral history project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauchamp, Kay 1899 births 1992 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain councillors People from Midsomer Norton English communists English pacifists British suffragists Left communists Members of Finsbury Metropolitan Borough Council English women writers Communist women writers English socialist feminists Women councillors in England