Beatrice Webb

From Freepedia

Martha Beatrice Potter Webb (January 2, 1858 - April 30, 1943) (also called Beatrice Webb) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, usually referred to in the same breath as her husband, Sidney Webb. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield.

Beatrice Webb was born in Gloucestershire, the granddaughter of a Radical MP, Richard Potter. In 1882, she had a relationship with Radical politician Joseph Chamberlain, by then a Cabinet minister. This was a failure, and in 1890 she was introduced to Sidney Webb, whose help she sought in research she was carrying out. They married in 1892, and remained together for the rest of her life. She was an active partner in all his political and professional activities, including the organisation of the Fabian Society and the establishment of the London School of Economics. She co-authored books such as the History of Trade Unionism (1894), and was co-founder of the New Statesman magazine (1913).

Webb's nephew, Sir Stafford Cripps, became a well-known British Labour politician in the 1930s and 1940s.