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{{Short description|British activist (1882–1981)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

factoids

| children = Michael Ashby}}Dame Margery Irene Corbett Ashby, {{postnominals|country=GBR|DBE}} ({{nee}} Corbett; 19 April 1882 – 15 May 1981) was a British suffragist, Liberal politician, feminist and internationalist.

Background

She was born at Danehill, East Sussex, the daughter of Charles Corbett, a barrister who was briefly Liberal MP for East Grinstead and Marie (Gray) Corbett, herself a Liberal feminist and local councillor in Uckfield. Margery was educated at home. Her governess was the feminist polymath Lina Eckenstein. Eckenstein was to become her friend and assisted with her work.Sybil Oldfield, 'Eckenstein, Lina Dorina Johanna (1857–1931)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, September 2014 Profile, oxforddnb.com; retrieved 1 October 2015.She passed the Classical tripos as a student at Newnham College, Cambridge; but the university did not at that time give degrees to female students. She married lawyer Brian Ashby in 1910. Their only child, a son, Michael Ashby (1914-2004), was a neurologist who gave evidence as an expert witness at the 1957 trial of suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams.Cullen, Pamela V., A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams, London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006; {{ISBN|1-904027-19-9}}

Political career

{{More citations needed|section|date=January 2022}}With her sister Cicely and friends, she founded the Younger Suffragists in 1901. After deciding against teaching, she was appointed Secretary of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies in 1907. She served as President of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance from 1923 to 1946.Law, Cheryl. Women, A Modern Political Dictionary. I.B. Tauris, 200. {{ISBN|1-86064-502-X}}She received an honorary LLD from Mount Holyoke College (USA) in 1937 in recognition of her international work. In 1942, she went on a government propaganda mission to Sweden.Oxford Dictionary of National BiographyAshby was one of the seventeen women candidates to contest a parliamentary election at the first opportunity in the General Election of 1918. She stood for Birmingham Ladywood against Neville Chamberlain the Unionist Coalition candidate. Her slogan was A soldier's wife for Ladywood. Although she came third behind Chamberlain and the Labour candidate J.W.Kneeshaw, she forced Chamberlain to address women's issues during his campaign, one of the few candidates who tried.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}Her papers at the Women's Library at the LSE in London contain a selection of her affectionate letters to her husband who was still in France for the early stages of the campaign. Chamberlain kept his sisters up to date with the campaign and his letters are preserved in the Cadbury Research Library at the University of Birmingham. Together they provide a unique record of the candidates' contrasting view of the election campaign.Hallam, David J.A., Taking on the Men: the first women parliamentary candidates 1918, Studley, 2018, Chapter 4 "Corbett Ashby in Ladywood.In 1922 and 1923 she contested Richmond, Surrey, 1924 Watford, 1929 Hendon, and 1935 and 1937 Hemel Hempstead.F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949 Finally, she stood as an independent liberal with the backing of Radical Action at the 1944 Bury St Edmunds by-election.Chris Cook, A Short History of the Liberal Party: 1900 - 2001, pp.268-269Peter Barberis, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations, p.316

Archives

The archives of Margery Corbett Ashby are held at The Women's Library at the London School of Economics.Margaret Corbett Ashby's records ref=7MCA, London School of Economics Brian Harrison recorded 6 oral history interviews with Ashby, twice in May 1974, and again in April 1975, September 1976, November 1976 and February 1977, as part of the Suffrage Interviews project, titled Oral evidence on the suffragette and suffragist movements: the Brian Harrison interviews.WEB, London School of Economics and Political Science, The Suffrage Interviews,weblink 2023-11-17, London School of Economics and Political Science, en-GB, The 1974 interviews recall her parents, the suffrage movement and her work with the NUWSS. In the 1975 interview Corbett-Ashby continues to talk about the NUWSS, as well as the formation of the Townswomen’s Guild and her membership of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. The interview in September 1976 provides details of her role in international women’s organisations, before focusing, in November 1976, on the relationships between a number of different women’s organisations, both internationally and in the UK.  Finally in February 1977 Corbett-Ashby talks about her experiences with Liberalism and political campaigns. The collection also contains an interview with Ashby’s son, Michael Ashby and daughter-in-law, Pamela Ashby, about her life.

Posthumous recognition

Her name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the plinth of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London, unveiled in 2018.WEB,weblink Historic statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett unveiled in Parliament Square, Gov.uk, 24 April 2018, 24 April 2018, NEWS, Topping, Alexandra,weblink First statue of a woman in Parliament Square unveiled, The Guardian, 24 April 2018, 24 April 2018, WEB,weblink Millicent Fawcett statue unveiling: the women and men whose names will be on the plinth, 24 April 2018, iNews, 2018-04-25,

Electoral record

{{Election box begin |1918 United Kingdom general election>General Election 1918: Birmingham LadywoodBritish Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Unionist Party (UK)|candidate = Neville Chamberlain|votes = 9,405|percentage = 69.5|change = }}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Labour Party (UK)|candidate = John W Kneeshaw|votes = 2,572|percentage = 19.0|change = }}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Liberal Party (UK)|candidate = Margery Corbett Ashby|votes = 1,552|percentage = 11.5|change = }}{{Election box majority||votes = 6,833|percentage = 50.5|change = }}{{Election box turnout||votes = |percentage = 40.6|change = }}{{Election box hold with party link||winner = Unionist Party (UK)|swing = }}{{Election box end}}{{Election box begin |1922 United Kingdom general election>General Election 1922: Richmond (Surrey)British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Independent UnionistHarry Becker (politician)>Harry Becker|votes = 12,075|percentage = 50.6|change = }}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Unionist Party (UK)|candidate = Clifford Blackburn Edgar|votes = 6,032|percentage = 25.3|change = }}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Liberal Party (UK)|candidate = Margery Corbett Ashby|votes = 5,765|percentage = 24.1|change = }}{{Election box majority||votes = 6,043|percentage = 25.3|change = }}{{Election box turnout||votes = |percentage = 68.8|change = }}{{Election box hold with party link||winner = Unionist Party (UK)|swing = }}{{Election box end}}{{Election box begin |1923 United Kingdom general election>General Election 1923: Richmond (Surrey)}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Unionist Party (UK)Harry Becker (politician)>Harry Becker|votes = 13,112|percentage = 63.0|change = +12.4}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Liberal Party (UK)|candidate = Margery Corbett Ashby|votes = 7,702|percentage = 37.0|change = +12.9}}{{Election box majority||votes = |percentage = 26.0|change = +.07}}{{Election box turnout||votes = |percentage = 59.4|change = -9.4}}{{Election box hold with party link||winner = Unionist Party (UK)|swing = }}{{Election box end}}{{Election box begin |1924 United Kingdom general election>General Election 1924: Watford}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Unionist Party (UK)Dennis Herbert, 1st Baron Hemingford>Dennis Herbert|votes = 15,271|percentage = 54.7|change = }}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Labour Party (UK)|candidate = Herbert Henry Elvin|votes = 7,417|percentage = 26.6|change = }}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Liberal Party (UK)|candidate = Margery Corbett Ashby|votes = 5,205|percentage = 18.7|change = }}{{Election box majority||votes = 7,854|percentage = 28.1|change = }}{{Election box turnout||votes = |percentage = 73.1|change = }}{{Election box hold with party link||winner = Unionist Party (UK)|swing = }}{{Election box end}}{{Election box begin |1929 United Kingdom general election>General Election 1929: Hendon}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Unionist Party (UK)Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton>Philip Cunliffe-Lister|votes = 31,758|percentage = 52.3|change = }}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Labour Party (UK)|candidate = Robert Lyons|votes = 15,434|percentage = 25.5|change = }}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Liberal Party (UK)|candidate = Margery Corbett Ashby|votes = 13,449|percentage = 22.2|change = }}{{Election box majority||votes = 16,324|percentage = 26.8|change = }}{{Election box turnout||votes = |percentage = 72.0|change = }}{{Election box hold with party link||winner = Unionist Party (UK)|swing = }}{{Election box end}}{{Election box begin |1935 United Kingdom general election>General Election 1935: Hemel HempsteadBritish parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F. W. S.}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Conservative Party (UK)J. C. C. Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson>John Davidson|votes = 20,074|percentage = 62.5|change = -4.7}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Liberal Party (UK)|candidate = Margery Corbett Ashby|votes = 7,078|percentage = 22.0|change = -2.6}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Labour Party (UK)|candidate = Charles William James|votes = 4,951|percentage = 15.4|change = +7.2}}{{Election box majority||votes = 12,996|percentage = 40.6|change = -2.0}}{{Election box turnout||votes = |percentage = 69.3|change = -7.9}}{{Election box hold with party link| }}{{Election box end}}{{Election box begin ||title=1937 Hemel Hempstead by-election}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Conservative Party (UK)Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson>Frances Davidson|votes = 14,992|percentage = 57.7|change = -4.8}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Liberal Party (UK)|candidate = Margery Corbett Ashby|votes = 7,347|percentage = 28.3|change = +6.3}}{{Election box candidate with party link||party = Labour Party (UK)|candidate = Charles William James|votes = 3,651|percentage = 14.0|change = -1.4}}{{Election box majority||votes = 7,645|percentage = 29.4|change = -11.2}}{{Election box turnout||votes = |percentage = 55.0|change = -14.3}}{{Election box hold with party link| }}{{Election box end}}{{Election box begin ||title=1944 Bury St Edmunds by-election}}{{Election box candidate with party link| }}{{Election box candidate with party link| }}{{Election box majority| }}{{Election box turnout| }}{hide}Election box hold with party link| {edih}{{Election box end}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• Biodata
• Oxford DNB
• Biodata

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