Dorothy
Jewson, the daughter of George Jewson, a wealthy
coal merchant and Mary Jane Jarrold, was born in Norwich
on 17th August, 1884.
Dorothy was educated at Cheltenham College
and Girton College, Cambridge. She also
went to Cambridge Training College and afterwards
taught at Richmond School (1908-11) and in a board school in Norwich.
With her brother, she carried out a large-scale investigation into
poverty in the city. This was published as The Destitute of Norwich.
Jewson was involved with the Fabian Society
while at Girton but later found the organisation too moderate and
joined the Independent Labour Party. Jewson
also became a member of the Women's Social and
Political Union but there is no evidence that she took part in
militant activities. As a pacifist Jewson
was a strong opponent of Britain's involvement in the First
World War.
In 1916 Mary Macarthur invited Jewson
to become an organiser for the National Federation of Women's Workers
(NFWW) where she worked closely with Margaret
Bondfield. When the NFWW amalgamated with the National Union of
General & Municipal Workers in 1921, Jewson worked for the newly
formed women's section.
Jewson was active in the local Labour Party
and in the 1923 General Election she was
elected as the MP for Norwich. In her
maiden speech, she advocated bringing down the voting age of women
to twenty-one. After she was defeated in the 1924
General Election she was appointed to the National Council of
the Independent Labour Party.
In the 1924 Jewson joined Dora Russell
to form the Workers' Birth Control Group. Jewson was president and
Russell, secretary of the organisation. Together they attempted to
persuade the Labour Party to adopt the policy
of government funded welfare centres to provide free birth-control
advice. Worried about the impact this would have on potential Roman
Catholic supporters, James
Ramsay MacDonald argued
strongly against it at the 1926 Party Conference and managed to have
the proposal defeated.
Jewson was a member of Norwich City Council between 1927 and 1936.
In later
life, Jewson was active in the Society for
Friends. Dorothy Jewson died on 29th February, 1964.
Woman
MPs in October 1924. Left to right, Dorothy
Jewson,
Susan
Lawrence,
Nancy
Astor,
Margaret
Winteringham,
Katharine
Stewart-Murray, Mabel
Philipson,
Vera
Terrington and
Margaret
Bondfield.
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