In the House of Lords

 

HL Deb 21 October 1958 vol 211 c662.

Barbara Frances, wife of George Percival Wright, Esquire (known as Barbara Wootton), having been created Baroness Wootton of Abinger, of Abinger Common in the County of Surrey, for life—Was introduced, making the solemn Affirmation. 
LordsSBarbara Wootton on the day in 1958 she became a life peer, with Lord Longford and Lord Burden on either side. 
 
Some of Barbara Wootton's observations about the House of Lords:
 
'Many times have I wondered if I was right to accept a peerage. The House of Lords is, in my judgment, a totally indefensible institution in a democratic society...Yet this anomalous institution still exercises a modicum of both power and influence. So long as it does so, it seems highly undesirable that it should be confined to one sex and swamped by one political party (and that the wrong one).'
In a World I Never Made, 1967, p.188
 
‘No one in his senses would invent the present House if it did not already exist.’
In a World I Never Made, 1967, p.274
 
‘In social life, I should like all differentiations in titles and modes of address to be abolished.‘
In Pursuit of Equality, 1975, p.12
 

Watch a video of the state opening of parliament in 1958.
Barbara Wootton can be seen clearly looking up 4 minutes into the video.

ParlVidS

 

 

 

 

 

 

WomenLordsSWomen in the Lords: The Life Peerages Act - Women and Change in the House of Lords since 1958, Baroness Hayman (the Lord Speaker). 6 December 2007.

The first of a series of five lectures hosted by the House of Lords, in conjunction with the Mile End Group celebrating the 50th anniversary since life Peers, and consequently women Members, first joined the House of Lords under the Life Peerages Act 1958 was given by Baroness Hayman, the Lord Speaker who spoke about women and change in the House of Lords. Images, Video and Transcript. 

For more information on Women in the Lords, please visit the Lord Speaker's webpage.

 

 

 

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