Britain’s first female MP was a gun-toting Irishwoman
Re: “Churchill was forthright about Islam – and many other things”, Have Your Say, February 22.
Nigel Pike informs us that Nancy Astor was “Britain’s first female MP”. Not true.
That particular position was acquired by Constance Georgine Markievicz (formerly Gore-Booth), born in London, who was elected to parliament in 1918 but did not actually take her seat. (Constituency: Dublin St Patrick’s – bit of a giveaway, eh?) She was the eldest daughter of 5th baronet Sir Henry Gore-Booth, an arctic explorer and Anglo-Irish landlord. In fact, my youngest daughter’s middle name is Constance, named in her honour. Markievicz took part in the Easter Rising of 1916, when Irish nationalists attempted to wrest control of their country from British rule. For her efforts she was sentenced to death, but this was commuted on the grounds of her gender.
Now this error may be a sin of omission on his part, but it is entirely possible that Nigel would not agree with her politics. There’s lots of published material about her life, though, if anyone is interested.
Dr Frank
