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The Educational Work of the Catholic Women's League in England 1906

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The Educational Work of the Catholic Women's League in England 1906 i The Educational Work of the Catholic Women's League in England 1906-1923 by Mary V. Newman Institute of Education London University Ph.D. ii Abstract This is a study of the Catholic Women's League in England. Between 1906 and 1923 it grew from a narrow metropolitan base into a broadly based national society. The CWL was a semi-autonomous organization under hierarchical authority which provided a structure designed to unite Catholic lay women and empower them to serve the Catholic community and promote the Church's social teachings in the public sphere. The focus of this study is the CWL's informal education which provided both knowledge of the social sciences and an understanding of Catholic social policy. It drew on theories of leadership, traditions of Christian vocation and a belief in the role of women as agents of social reform, to formulate an educational programme designed to convert individual philanthropy into systematic social care. Evidence is provided to indicate how the CWL adapted this informal education to meet the needs of Catholic women both when they were engaged in war work and in their new role as voters after 1918. This study reveals how the CWL at a time of militant feminist activity endeavoured to develop an ideological space, "Christian Feminism", where Catholic women could be both Catholic and feminist. Thus Catholic women were able to defend traditional female roles in the family while advocating participation in the public sphere. Seven biographical profiles are included to illustrate the similarities and differences between the founders of the CWL including Margaret Fletcher a leading figure throughout this period. The personal motivations of these women who served on its committees and formulated its educational theory are identified. Finally, this study indicates how women provided an organization for women in which they could be empowered to act as agents of social reform among the Catholic community of England in the early twentieth century. iv Contents Preface Abbreviations 1 Introduction 1 2 Historical Context 12 3 Historiography, Theoretical Framework and Methodology 45 4 The Founding and Development of the CWL: Opposition and Acceptance within the Catholic Community 103 5 The Making of a National Society 135 6 Empowering Catholic Women: Educational Theory in the context of the Women's Movement 182 7 The Educational Programme 239 8 The Personal Touch: Biographical Profiles of the Founders of the CWL 282 9 Conclusion 335 Bibliography 346 v Preface The research which forms the basis of this thesis has been possible because of the generosity of the Catholic Women's League who opened their archives to me. In particular I am aware of my debt to Breda Ford and Margaret Richardson of the CWL who allowed me to keep archival material in my home. This thesis would not exist without the help and support of three people. Professor Gary McCulloch my supervisor who encouraged, guided and advised me throughout the process. Jennifer Mann who has given generously of her time to provide the eyesight necessary to access archives, libraries and conferences across Southern England. Jennifer has also read several volumes of CWL minute books on to tape. David Roche who in the early days also read for me. I would like to record my thanks to Richard Aldrich who first accepted me on to the doctoral studies programme at the Institute of Education London University and has encouraged me ever since. I would also like to acknowledge my debt to the tutors at RN IB Redhill College and in particular Andrew Farrell who upgraded my computer skills. The volunteers of the Oxford Resources for the Blind who enabled me to access the Bodleian Library and St Hilda's College for the term I spent in 2001 as a Visiting School Mistress Fellow. Mary V. Newman vi Abbreviations AGM Annual General Meeting of the CWL CSG Catholic Social Guild CTS Catholic Truth Society CWL Catholic Women's League of England and Wales CWLM Catholic Women's League Magazine CWSS Catholic Women's Suffrage Society ECMB1 The Executive Minutes 1907-1909 Minute Book ECMB2 The Executive Committee Minutes 1909-1911 Minute Book 2 LOC The Ladies of Charity NC National Committee NUWW National Union of Women Workers OP Order of Preachers (Dominicans). vii OSB Order of St Benedict. PSI Public Service Information committee of the CWL Council. SHCJ Society of the Holy Child Jesus. SJ Society of Jesus UCM Union of Catholic Mothers WSPU Women's Social and Political Union 1 Chapter One: Introduction This chapter explains the reasons for focusing the study of the Catholic Women's League (CWL) in England on its first seventeen years (1906-1923), and it identifies the key research questions to be examined in this study. The following chapter considers the broader historical, social and religious context in which the Catholic Women's League was founded, developed into a national organization and adapted to the post-First World War society. 1. The Catholic Women's League For most of the twentieth century the CWL was a significant feature of the English Catholic community and provided Catholic women with a semi- autonomous organization (under hierarchical authority) which empowered them to participate in the public sphere. Although the first formal meetings of the CWL did not take place until early in 1907 it is generally accepted that the CWL was founded in the autumn of 1906 when the idea of a league for Catholic lay women first appeared in the September 19061 issue of The Crucible.2 A provisional Executive Committee first met in February 1907 with Margaret Fletcher as its chairman. Margaret Fletcher served as its president from 1906 to 1910 and again between 1917 and 1920 and throughout this period she exercised a strong influence on the CWL. During the period 1906 to 1923 the CWL became a national society with branches throughout England and Wales and forged links with similar leagues in Europe and the Empire. During these years it was involved in the founding of several Catholic 2 societies, for example the Union of Catholic Mothers. The CWL was able to maintain a large membership throughout the inter-war years and it reached a peak of nearly twenty four thousand in the late 1950s. Its membership, however, steadily declined during the 1960s and 1970s so that by the late twentieth century it was little more than six thousand. The twenty-first century society remains committed to the original aims and objectives formulated by the founding generation. The focus for this study has been confined to the period 1906-1923 in order to include the earliest steps taken in the latter half of 1906 to create the CWL. In this period it developed from a narrow metropolitan base into a broadly based national society. By 1923 the CWL had designed and adapted its constitution, formulated an educational theory, implemented an educational programme and established its position within the Catholic community as a voice for Catholic lay women and as an advocate of social reform. The CWL met the challenge of the First World War and demonstrated its patriotism and won acceptance among non-Catholic societies with similar aims and ideals. Contemporaries recognized Margaret Fletcher's definition of this period (1906-1923) as "those hectic pioneer days of the League's life, days when definite leadership was called for and a willingness on the part of the membership to be led". She saw that by the 1920s the society "had matured into a democratic self-governing association".3 In the post-war period 1919- 1923 the CWL responded to the enfranchisement of women with a new educational programme. Lady Sykes, the third person to occupy the post of CWL president, retired in 1923, by which time most of the founding generation 3 had left office and were no longer involved in the national decision-making process. A new generation of women with different experiences and aspirations were engaged in leading the CWL to meet fresh challenges in the 1920s and 1930s. The CWL was founded amidst the turmoil of the suffrage campaigns and had sought to provide its members with an alternative version of feminism to the more radical forms which included criticism of the Christian religion and challenged the role of men and women within the family. "Christian Feminism" was a conservative version of feminism that enabled Catholic women to combine active public roles with loyalty to the Church4 and its teachings on marriage and the family. By the end of 1923 this particular context had radically altered. Many women were now able to participate in the political process at every level, local and national. In this post-war environment the CWL became committed to a new set of issues, such as divorce law and birth control. Those campaigns were fought out in very different circumstances and by a different leadership from those of pre-1918 and consequently they should be considered in a different context to this study. Another characteristic of this period was the erosion of the division between paid employment and voluntary work for women. At the beginning of the twentieth century the vast majority of middle-class women before marriage were not expected to earn their own living. At this time 'work' did not exclusively mean paid employment, it could mean voluntary, charitable activity done without salary. In some cases there were posts within the voluntary sector which included a small salary but this was still not seen as enough to 4 undermine the status of the recipient if it was undertaken as a vocation. The CWL usually described voluntary charitable activities carried out for the betterment of the poor as social work.
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