Wootton, Barbara, 1897-1988

Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger (1897-1988). Born Barbara Adam, she was the daughter of two Cambridge Classicists. Her father was a Fellow of Emmanuel College, her mother was a Girtonian who had lectured in Classics for College and became a Research Fellow in 1920, the same year as BW became a lecturer and Director of Studies in Economics for the College. She never got on with her mother and looked to her nanny (The Pie) for affection and stability. She was educated at the Perse School for Girls, Cambridge and came to Girton to read Classics then Economics 1915-19. She married John (Jack) Wootton in 1917 and lived as an out-student from 1917-19. Initially it seemed she would follow her parents into academia but a series of personal tragedies may have caused her to change course. Her father died when she was aged 10, and her husband died of war wounds only weeks after their marriage. She also lost a brother in World War I. Her second husband, George Wright, whom she married in 1934, died in 1964. After her degree, her focus was on social administration, criminology and the law. She took a job as a researcher for the TUC and Labour Party, then became Principal of Morley College for working men and women, and subsequently Director of Studies, and later Reader in Social Studies, at the University of London, finally being appointed Professor at Bedford College in 1948. In 1952 she relinquished this post to take up a Nuffield Foundation Research Fellowship, from which she produced her major publication Social Science and Social Pathology (1959). She was a lay magistrate for almost 50 years, sitting as chair of the juvenile courts in London for 16 years. She was an acknowledged workaholic but one who was 'endlessly and untiringly engaged in practical matters'. She published widely on social sciences, being a member of innumerable committees, was a Governor of the BBC and served on four Royal Commissions. Particular campaigns were on juvenile crime, firearms, and drugs, especially the legalisation of cannabis. In 1958, she was one of the first four life peers, an honour she accepted while remaining a rebel, seeking to abolish 'this creaking contrivance'. She was the first woman to sit on the Woolsack as Deputy Speaker. She was made an Honorary Fellow of Girton College in 1969, a Companion of Honour in 1977 and received an honorary Doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1985. Wootton was an acknowledged leader throughout her career. In 1926, Everywoman stated 'This is an age when women are coming into their own and we can get inspiration by following the remarkable career of Barbara Wootton. She is even now only 29 years of age, yet she is a considerable figure in the national life, and is, in a sense, the standard-bearer of the new generation'. In 1971 she was hailed by the London Illustrated News as 'a sociological legend in her own lifetime' and in 1984, she was one of six remarkable women chosen for the BBC 2 series 'Women of Our Century'. She died in 1988 having been active in the House of Lords into her late eighties.

From the guide to the Personal Papers of Barbara Wootton, 1897-1994, (Girton College Library, University of Cambridge)

Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger (1897-1988). Born Barbara Adam, she was the daughter of two Cambridge Classicists. Her father was a Fellow of Emmanuel College, her mother was a Girtonian who had lectured in Classics for College and became a Research Fellow in 1920, the same year as BW became a lecturer and Director of Studies in Economics for the College. She never got on with her mother and looked to her nanny (The Pie) for affection and stability. She was educated at the Perse School for Girls, Cambridge and came to Girton to read Classics then Economics 1915-19. She married John (Jack) Wootton in 1917 and lived as an out-student from 1917-19. Initially it seemed she would follow her parents into academia but a series of personal tragedies may have caused her to change course. Her father died when she was aged 10, and her husband died of war wounds only weeks after their marriage. She also lost a brother in World War I. Her second husband, George Wright, whom she married in 1934, died in 1964. After her degree, her focus was on social administration, criminology and the law. She took a job as a researcher for the TUC and Labour Party, then became Principal of Morley College for working men and women, and subsequently Director of Studies, and later Reader in Social Studies, at the University of London, finally being appointed Professor at Bedford College in 1948. In 1952 she relinquished this post to take up a Nuffield Foundation Research Fellowship, from which she produced her major publication Social Science and Social Pathology (1959). She was a lay magistrate for almost 50 years, sitting as chair of the juvenile courts in London for 16 years. She was an acknowledged workaholic but one who was 'endlessly and untiringly engaged in practical matters'. She published widely on social sciences, being a member of innumerable committees, was a Governor of the BBC and served on four Royal Commissions. Particular campaigns were on juvenile crime, firearms, and drugs, especially the legalisation of cannabis. In 1958, she was one of the first four life peers, an honour she accepted while remaining a rebel, seeking to abolish 'this creaking contrivance'. She was the first woman to sit on the Woolsack as Deputy Speaker. She was made an Honorary Fellow of Girton College in 1969, a Companion of Honour in 1977 and received an honorary Doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1985. Wootton was an acknowledged leader throughout her career. In 1926, Everywoman stated 'This is an age when women are coming into their own and we can get inspiration by following the remarkable career of Barbara Wootton. She is even now only 29 years of age, yet she is a considerable figure in the national life, and is, in a sense, the standard-bearer of the new generation'. In 1971 she was hailed by the London Illustrated News as 'a sociological legend in her own lifetime' and in 1984, she was one of six remarkable women chosen for the BBC 2 series 'Women of Our Century'. She died in 1988 having been active in the House of Lords into her late eighties. [Biography taken from Girton College Cambridge introduction to the catalogue of Wootton's Personal Papers]

From the guide to the Barbara Wootton Papers - Committee on National Debt and Taxation, 1920s, (London Metropolitan University: Trades Union Congress Library Collections)