BEATRICE WEBB

Beatrice Webb was born on 2 nd January, 1858 in Standish House in Gloucestershire (England) and she died on 30 th April, 1943.

Her grandfather was who was a radical MP. Her father was a wealthy railway entrepreneur, for that reason she travelled a lot when she was a child. In spite of being always travelling she received some education about Philosophy, Science and Mathematics. Richard Potter

In 1883 she worked for a Charity Organization Society (COS) which provided poor people with Christian help. In 1886 she worked as a researcher for who was involved in the study of people who worked in London. Charles Booth,

In 1882 she fell in love with but the relationship ended when she went to work with Charles Booth. Then she met and married him in Joseph Chamberlain Sidney Webb

She was a very important economist for the nowadays economic and political system. She started to campaign against the capitalism and she joined the Fabian Society, whose aim was to reconstruct society with the highest moral possibilities

Beatrice and Sidney Webb wrote The History of Trade Unionism (1894) and Industrial Democracy (1897). They wanted to convince that there was a need to create a new political party which defended socialism in the parliament.

- In 1905 the government established a Royal Commission to look into “the working of the laws relating to the relief of poor persons in the United Kingdom” The Webbs wrote the Minority Report where they campaigned for: -The end of the Poor Law -The establishment and coordination to make an efficient use of the national’s labour resources -Improving essential services such as education and health.

In 1898 the Webbs travelled to North America, Australia and New Zealand to carry out a study of the English local government. Then they published the book English Local Government In 1932 they went to the Soviet Union. They were impressed by the rapid improvement in health and educational services and by the economic and political equality of women. When they came back they supported the communism by writing the book: Soviet Communism: a new civilisation.

In 1895, with the help of the Fabian society and the support of the London County Council, she founded the London School of economical and political sciences, whose aim was to teach economical and political sciences in a more modern and socialist way.

In 1900 general election, the Fabians joined the Independent Labour Party and the Social Democratic Federation. They won votes and put two of their candidates in the House of Commons: Richard Bell and Keir Hardie.

In the 1923 General Election Beatrice's husband, Sidney Webb, was chosen to represent the Labour Party. Webb won the seat and when Ramsay MacDonald became Britain's first Labour Prime Minister in 1924, he appointed Webb as his President of the Board of Trade.

In short, Beatrice Webb was a very important influence for nowadays socialist, democratic and moderate government system. She also had an important role in the economy with the London School of Economics and Political Science and wrote the principles of the social well-fare in the Minority Report as well as hundreds of books.

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