Margaret Lloyd George

Dame Margaret Lloyd George GBE JP (née Owen; 4 November 1864 – 20 January 1941) was a Welsh humanitarian and one of the first seven women magistrates appointed in Britain in 1919.[1] She was the wife of Prime Minister David Lloyd George from 1888 until her death in 1941.[2]

Dame Margaret Lloyd George

GBE JP
Spouse of the Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom
In role
6 December 1916 – 19 October 1922
Preceded byMargot Asquith
Succeeded byVacant
Personal details
Born
Margaret Owen

(1864-11-04)4 November 1864
Died20 January 1941(1941-01-20) (aged 76)
Criccieth, Wales
Resting placeCriccieth Burial Ground
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)
Children5, including
EducationDr Williams' School for Girls

Early life

She was born on 4 November 1864 to Richard Owen, an elder of Capel Mawr of Criccieth, Caernarfonshire, a well-to-do Methodist farmer and valuer.[3][2] She was educated at Dr Williams' School for Girls, Dolgellau.[4]

Marriage and children

On 1 January 1888, she married Lloyd George.[2] Her father initially disapproved of him. They had five children:

  • Richard, later 2nd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (1889–1968) wrote a book about his mother Dame Margaret: The Life Story of His Mother.[5]
  • Mair Eluned (1890–1907)
  • Olwen Elizabeth, Lady Carey Evans DBE (3 April 1892 – 2 March 1990);[6] she married Major Sir Thomas John Carey Evans (died 25 August 1947) in 1917 at London's Welsh Baptist Chapel. She was the grandmother of Margaret MacMillan[7][8] and great-grandmother of television presenter Dan Snow.
  • Gwilym, later 1st Viscount Tenby (1894–1967)
  • Megan Lloyd George (1902–1966), the first female Member of Parliament (MP) for a Welsh constituency

Political activity and public service
Portrait of Dame Margaret Lloyd George, 1921 by Christopher Williams

In 1918, during her husband's premiership, Margaret was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) after raising over £200,000 for war charities.[3]

On 24 December 1919, the day after the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 received Royal Assent, Margaret Lloyd George was one of the first seven women to be appointed as a Magistrate, alongside Lady Crewe, Lady Londonderry, Elizabeth Haldane, Gertrude Tuckwell, Beatrice Webb and Mary Augusta Ward. She was the first Welsh woman to hold this office.[1]

On 8 December 1920, Margaret Lloyd George visited Leeds and stayed with Lady Airedale, whose home was nearby. Baroness Airedale "expressed her great pleasure at the presence of Dame Margaret Lloyd George at the very successful reception at Leeds, to which over 150 prominent ladies of Coalition Liberal sympathies were invited from all parts of Yorkshire".[9][10]

Margaret Lloyd George had earlier presided over a meeting on 21 October 1920, at which the Young Wales Association was founded. This meeting, at the Portman Rooms, Baker Street, was attended by over 400 members of the London Welsh community. Margaret Lloyd George subsequently became its President (1921–22). The Young Wales Association, which afterwards became the London Welsh Trust, runs the London Welsh Centre on Gray's Inn Road, London, which she opened on 29 November 1930.[11][12]

She served on Criccieth Urban District Council from 1919 until her death,[13] including three years as its chairman, was the first female Justice of the Peace in Caernarfonshire, and was president of the Women's Liberal Federation of North and South Wales.[14]

Death

She died at her home in Criccieth, Wales on 20 January 1941 after a period of illness following a fall when she injured her hip.[15][2]

gollark: You've managed to make a program to automatically doxx everyone on the internet instantly?
gollark: I forgot.
gollark: So, hmm, how to improve my staff application...
gollark: one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve™ thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty twentyone twentytwo twentythree twentyfour twentyfive twentysix twentyseven twentyeight twentynine thirty
gollark: Why not? I do count. Sometimes I count to 12.

References
  1. "100 Years of Women Magistrates". www.magistrates-association.org.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  2. "Mrs. Lloyd George Dies In Wales". New York Times. 21 January 1941.
  3. George, Dr. W. R. P. "Dictionary of Welsh Biography". © LlGC 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2016. MARGARET OWEN was b. 4 Nov. 1864 . She was made Dame Grand Cross of the British Empire in 1918 . She d. 20 Jan. 1941 ....
  4. Lloyd George, Richard (1947). Dame Margaret – The Life Story of His Mother. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. p. 68.
  5. Lloyd George, Richard (1947). Dame Margaret, the life story of his mother. George Allen & Unwin. OCLC 1001097018.
  6. "Lady Olwen Carey Evans shares childhood memories of her father, David Lloyd George". BBC Two Yesterday's Witness.
  7. University affairs:"The making of a best-seller" (January 2004) Archived 28 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Profile of "David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor" in Peerage.com
  9. Lloyd George, David (1973). "The Lloyd George Liberal Magazine 1920–1923, Volume 1, Issues 1–6". (re-print) Harvester Press 1973 Great Britain, pp. 246–385. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  10. "Lady Airedale" (Leeds Mercury 9 December 1920). Retrieved 31 March 2016. Lady Airedale, with whom Mrs. Lloyd George has been staying on her Leeds visit, was the daughter (of the late Edward, Baron von Schunck and Kate Lupton)...
  11. "History: London Welsh Centre". London Welsh Centre website. London Welsh Centre. 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  12. "Our Former Presidents: London Welsh Centre". London Welsh Centre website. London Welsh Centre. 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  13. Hague, Ffion (2008). "Disillusionment". The Pain and the Privilege: The Women in Lloyd George's Life. Harper Press. p. 375. ISBN 9780007219490.
  14. Lloyd George, Richard (1947). Dame Margaret – The Life Story of His Mother. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. p. 200.
  15. Staff (21 January 1941). "Dame Margaret Lloyd George". The Times. London, UK. p. 4.
Unofficial roles
Preceded by
Margot Asquith		 Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1916–1922		 Vacant
Title next held by
Lucy Baldwin
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