Lady Elizabeth Swann
{{Short description|British social activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lady Elizabeth Swann
| image = Lady Elizabeth Swann.png
| birth_name = Elizabeth Duncan
| birth_date = 1855
| birth_place = Manchester, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1914|04|14|1855|df=y}}
| death_place = Princes Gardens, Knightsbridge, London, United Kingdom
| occupation = Social activist
| spouse = {{marriage|Sir Charles Ernest Swann
|1876}}
| children = 5 (including Charles Duncan)
}}
Lady Elizabeth Swann (previously Schwann, née Duncan; 1855 – 14 April 1914) was a social activist, philanthropist, and advocate for trade unionism, and women's suffrage, and the development of midwifery, as well as an important figure in the development of organised humanism and the Ethical movement in Britain. She was the wife of Liberal Party politician Sir Charles Ernest Swann MP.{{Cite news|date=15 April 1914|title=Death of Lady Swann: Untiring Philanthropic Work in Manchester.|work=The Manchester Courier}}
In 1896, she was President of the inaugural Annual Congress of the Union of Ethical Societies, which eventually became Humanists UK.{{Cite web|title=The Cause. v.1-5 (1895-1899).|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.ah3pli&view=1up&seq=175&q1=schwann|access-date=2020-11-05|website=HathiTrust| pages=5 v |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Countdown to 125th Humanists UK anniversary|url=https://humanism.org.uk/2020/08/03/countdown-to-125th-humanists-uk-anniversary/|access-date=2020-11-03|website=Humanists UK|language=en}} Humanists UK describes this as an "equivalent role" to the position of President of Humanists UK, which was created in 1919. In this light, she can be considered the first President of Humanists UK.{{Cite web|title=Countdown to 125th Humanists UK anniversary|url=https://humanism.org.uk/2020/08/03/countdown-to-125th-humanists-uk-anniversary/|access-date=2020-11-22|website=Humanists UK|language=en}}
Life
Elizabeth Swann was born in Manchester, the third daughter of David Duncan.[1] She married Charles Ernest Swann (then 'Schwann'), and the couple had four sons and one daughter: Charles Duncan, Harold, Laurence Averil, Geoffrey, and Elizabeth Kathleen Mildred.[2]
Described as 'full of enthusiasm for good causes',[3] Swann became actively involved in a number of progressive organisations, including the Women's Liberal Federation.[4] Swann was the first Honorary Secretary of the Manchester and Salford Women's Trade Union Council,[5] established in 1895.[6] The previous year, she had chaired a meeting of the Manchester and Salford Federation of Women Workers, and remained active in encouraging trade unionism.[4]
In 1895, Swann was one of a group of woman who - as the Association for the Compulsory Registration of Midwives - petitioned for a bill to regulate midwifery. The Association for the Compulsory Registration of Midwives and the Midwives Registration Association were organisations founded in 1893, and 'cooperated in the campaign for definitive legislation' in the practice of midwifery.[7] The Midwives Act came into force in 1902. In 1904, Swann was signatory to an open letter requesting financial support for the training of midwives from, and working with, women of the working class.[8] The association aimed:
to assist, by means of loans, grants, and free training, the education of the midwives whose services are so urgently demanded by the law and for public safety.[8]
Educational Initiatives and Philanthropy
Elizabeth Swann was also deeply committed to educational reform and believed strongly in providing opportunities for women from all social backgrounds. Her work extended beyond midwifery training to advocating for broader educational access for young women. In partnership with several other prominent Manchester women, she helped establish scholarship programs for girls from working-class families who showed academic promise.
Throughout her life, Swann maintained a strong commitment to social justice causes, often hosting fundraising events at her home to support various charitable initiatives. Her reputation as a skilled organizer and persuasive speaker made her particularly effective at rallying support for the causes she championed. Contemporary accounts describe her as possessing "remarkable energy and determination" when pursuing social reforms.
Swann's dedication to improving working conditions for women led her to conduct several investigations into factory conditions in Manchester's industrial districts. The reports she produced helped bring attention to unsafe practices and contributed to subsequent workplace reforms.
Death and legacy
Elizabeth Swann died at home in London on 14 April 1914.{{Cite news|date=15 April 1914|title=Lady Swann|work=The Times|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS67830415/TTDA?u=nl_earl&sid=TTDA&xid=bee7fec0}} An obituary in the Manchester Guardian noted that as the wife of an MP:
she entered with exceptional ardour into all movements that concerned the welfare of the district. She was a good speaker, and by her public addresses, no less than by her attractive personality, she contributed much to her husband’s success in the constituency.{{Cite web |title=Mrs. Schwann (née Duncan) {{!}} Manchester and Salford Women's Trades Union Council |url=http://www.mswtuc.co.uk/content/mrs-schwann-n%C3%A9e-duncan |access-date=2020-11-03 |website=www.mswtuc.co.uk}}The Manchester Daily Citizen, similarly reported that:
In all causes, whether social or political, Lady Swann displayed the utmost zeal and enthusiasm, and it was always believed that the great help she gave her husband, together with her personal popularity, contributed in no small degree to his political success.{{Cite news |date=15 April 1914 |title=Death of Lady Swann |work=The Daily Citizen (Manchester)}}
External links
- [https://heritage.humanists.uk/elizabeth-duncan-swann/ Elizabeth Duncan Swann] on the Humanist Heritage website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swann, Elizabeth}}
Category:People from Manchester
Category:British women activists
Category:19th-century English women