Louisa Martindale

Background

She was born in Woodford Green, Essex. Her father, James Spicer, was a wholesale stationer with a successful family business.

Career

The family were prominent Congregationalists. She founded the Ray Lodge Mission Station in Woodford Green in 1865. She was also involved with the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Women"s Suffrage Society.

Her interest in women"s rights dated from 1867.

She spoke in Spicer"s Monmouth constituency on issues such as the aforementioned admission of women into county councils, wrote lectures on the rights of women and related topics, and supported women"s right to preach. Not just content with political action, Martindale engaged in a practical manner to improve the situation of women.

Martindale died from pneumonia in Horsted Keynes on 15 March 1914, aged 74. Louisa Martindale"s legacy is by now well-recognized.

Achievements

• The history of her work in Horsted Keynes, as a founder of the Congregationalist "Free Church" there, as a community leader, and as an advocate of women"s religious rights, is maintained in the Martindale Centre, in the heart of the village. Perhaps her legacy is best symbolized by her brother James Spicer"s great-granddaughter, Harriet Harman Queen's Counsel Member of Parliament, a Labour politician who has attained high-ranking functions such as Deputy Leader, and Party Chair of the Labour Party, Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal, and Minister for Women and Equality.

Membership

In the 1880s, she opened her house for shop girls on alternate Saturdays, and took a number of underprivileged young women under her wing, among whom was Margaret Bondfield, later the first female Cabinet member of the United Kingdom.