Ruth Cavendish Bentinck
| Ruth Cavendish Bentinck | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born |
Ruth Mary St Maur 21 October 1867 Tangier |
| Died |
28 January 1953 London |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Occupation | aristocrat |
| Known for | Suffragette and founding a Women's Library |
| Spouse(s) | Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck |
| Parent(s) | Viscount Ferdinand St Maur & Rosina Elizabeth Swan |
Ruth Mary Cavendish-Bentinck born Ruth Mary St Maur (21 October 1867 – 28 January 1953) was a Moroccan-born British aristocrat, suffragist and socialist. Her library was the basis for what is now the Women's Library.
Life
Bentinck was born in Tangier in 1867. Her father was an aristocrat named Ferdinand St Maur (son of Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset) while her mother, Rosina Elizabeth Swan, was a maid. Her parents brought her to England, where they had a son, Harold St. Maur, but her father died in 1869 and they never married. She and her brother were brought up by her paternal grandparents after her mother married again and her stepfather died.[1] Her illegitimacy was a problem during her childhood but this was balanced by the education and care that her de facto parents gave her. They also gave her their surname.[2] When her grandmother died she was left £80,000.[1]
In 1887 she was a socialist, but she married an aristocrat named Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck. They inherited his father debts when he died.[1] Their sons included Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck, 8th Duke of Portland and Victor Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of Portland.
In 1909 she joined the Women's Social and Political Union. This was a militant organisation who believed in "Deeds not Words". Bentinck did wear a sandwich board but unlike many of its members she was never arrested. She wrote The Point Of Honour: A Correspondence On Aristocracy And Socialism in 1909.[1] The third key event in 1909 was founding a library that was to become in time the Women's Library.[3]
In 1912 Bentinck and Florence Gertrude de Fonblanque organised a suffage demonstration that involved women dressed in brown, green and white walking from Edinburgh to London.[1] The "Brown Women" gathered signatures for a petition and national attention. The following year de Fonblanque and Bentick decided to set up the Qui Vive Corps. The idea was that these brown, green and white uniformed volunteers would appear at suffrage events organised by any organisation.[2] It was intended that these would attend any suffrage inspired event.[2] The Qui Vive Corps were involved in campaigning among the miners for the Labour Party in Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The reason for their support for Labour was because the suffragettes objected to the Liberal Party's policy of not supporting women's suffrage.[1]
In 1913 she was involved with the Northern Men's Federation for Women's Suffrage which she was helping to organise. In 1918 her library was given to the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) although Bentinck still took a strong interest. The library is considered her most important legacy. The NUWSS gave the library to the Women's (Service) Library in 1931.[1] Her collection is considered to be the core of what is now the important Women's Library.[3]
Bentinck died at her home on Marylebone Road in London in 1953.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 David Doughan, "Bentinck, Ruth Mary Cavendish (1867–1953)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- 1 2 Crampton, Caroline (15 May 2014). "The Women's Library: a treasure house of women's literature". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017.