From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dorothy Crisp
Dorothy Crisp
Dorothy Crisp (1906–1987) was a right wing English polit- crazed man, an intruder in his office in Robinson Road,
ical figure, writer and publisher. (he was a special constable), when he was shot in the
struggle. Because he was off-duty at the time the govern-
Biography ment denied her a pension, but after a three-year strug-
gle she finally got £500 pa. By then she was bankrupt,
Born in Leeds 17 May 1906,[1] she became a public speak- her publishing company had folded and the libel case
er and writer on nationalism, contributing to the National abandoned. She was convicted of misdemeanours under
Review in the 1920s. Among her books were The Rebirth of the Bankruptcy Act (obtaining credit whilst an un-dis-
Conservatism (1931) and Why we Lost Singapore (1944). She charged bankrupt) in 1958 and twice again in the 1960s
was a British political commentator with contacts in high and served three terms in Holloway Prison. Her prison
places at the Foreign Office.[2] memories, A Light in the Night (1960)[6] describe condi-
By mid-1940s she was famous as the belligerent and tions in Holloway in order to call attention to the need of
outspoken champion of the right-wing British prison reform.
Housewives’ League, whose meetings frequently de- She later lived in Sussex for about fifteen years dur-
scended into boos, catcalls and physical tussling for con- ing the 1950s and 1960s. During this period she at one
trol of the microphones. Hecklers once got so out of hand time lived at Overs Farmhouse, Barcombe; Jigg’s Cottage
at the Royal Albert Hall that police were called, though Jevington; and Woodland Drive in Hove. Around 1975 she
she was later cheered for threatening to throw Aneurin moved to Oxford after which no more is known. Howev-
Bevan (then Minister of Health in the Attlee Labour gov- er, she appears to have returned to London and died in
ernment) over Westminster Bridge if he brought in the Fulham May 1987 aged 81.[7]
National Health Service Act. The police were summoned It has been said that Dorothy Crisp is the historical figure
twice to maintain order at an uproarious meeting in who most resembles Margaret Thatcher.[8]
which she expelled several executive members amid
shouted accusations of ‘dictatorship’. She resigned her
chairmanship in 1948 on personal grounds, after that the
Books by Dorothy Crisp (as au-
League went into decline. thor)
A regular contributor of provocative articles for the
Sunday Dispatch, - one edition in 1943 was banned in Eire The Rebirth of Conservatism, 1931, Methuen, London 203p,
(Southern Ireland) because it contained her criticisms of with five essays from the universities and a conclusion by
the de Valera’s government. Crisp fought the Acton by- Oliver Stanley, with an introduction by John Buchan
election, 1943 as an Independent but secured only 707 England - Mightier Yet, 1939, The National Review, 232p,
out of the 8,315 votes cast. (an analysis of the problems confronting the British
She married John Noel Becker in Westminster Lon- Government).
don during the Spring of 1945, but retained her maiden Christ is no Pacifist: the Religious and Secular Case against
name. Moving to the village of Smarden near Ashford in Pacifism, 1939 London: Boswell Publishing Co. Ltd.,
Kent she gave birth to a daughter (Elizabeth) in 1946, to Thieves by the Grace of God, a novel, exposing the great
whom the Conservative MP Ida Copeland was godmoth- injustices of our times, the story of re-housing, Boswell
er. Publishing Co. Ltd
She was subject of a patronising article referring to England’s Purpose, 1941, Rich & Cowan, 191p, English char-
her as "the buxom, brown-eyed, voluble little woman", acteristics, ’Privately, the Englishman will agree with every-
by Gordon Beckles,[3][4] published in the 12 July 1947 is- thing she writes,’ review in The Belfast Telegraph,
sue of Leader Magazine under the title of "Housewife of Aprons of Fig Leaves, 1942, a novel
England!".[5] It featured a photo of her giving a speech on The Future of Europe 1944, Keliher, Hudson & Kearns, Ltd,
behalf of the British Housewives’ League. London, 36p booklet,- author’s analysis and thoughts on
In 1947 she won substantial damages for libel against the (then) current situation in Europe and the future,
the New Statesman and the following year was halfway particularly in relation to Poland.
through a similar case against the Daily Herald and ex- Why we lost Singapore 1945, Dorothy Crisp & Co., London,
pecting her son (John) when her 48 year old husband was 178p, comprises newspaper articles written in 1942 and
shot dead in Singapore on 24 October 1948. He was a se- 1943 author examines in some detail the political, eco-
nior assistant in Watts & Co. Helping the police arrest a nomic and military situations both prior to, and during
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dorothy Crisp
the war. nunciation of the living conditions of the Egyptian poor,
The Commonsense of Christianity 1945, Rich & Cowan, Lon- by the late professor of clinical medicine, University of
don, 126p, Cairo
A Life for England, 1946, Dorothy Crisp & Co., London, 311p, A Police Background, 1947, Rene H Onraet, a former
biography, the causes of the discontents for which the Inspector-General of Police, Straits Settlement 1935-39
author suggests the remedy.
The Path for England, 1947, Dorothy Crisp & Co., London,
174p,
Reference sources
A Light in the Night, 1960, Holborn Publishing Co. Ltd, Lon- • Notable Sussex Women: 580 Biographical Sketches, Helena
don, 156p, prison memories describe conditions in Hol- Wojtczak, Hastings Press, 2008, Pages 186-7, ISBN
loway in order to call attention to the need of prison re- 978-1-904-10915-0
form. • Death of John Becker in 1948, Newspaper report, The
The Dominance of England, 1960, Holborn Publishing Co. Straits Times (Singapore), 16 March 1949, Page 10
Ltd London, author’s post war political and statistical
analysis of Britain’s role, contribution and relationships
with Allies, particularly the USA, during the World War
References
1939-1945, [1] 1911 England Census records Mr & Mrs Crisp & two
Truth Too Near the Heels, 1986, Spider Web (London 184 daughters living at 16 Surrey Street,
Munster Road SW6 6AU), 260p, [2] Notable Sussex Women: 580 Biographical Sketches,
Helena Wojtczak, Hastings Press, 2008, ISBN
978-1-904-10915-0
Some books published by [3] Scoop! biographical dictionary of journalists
Dorothy Crisp & Co Ltd (as pub- [4] ’Fleet Street, press barons and politics: the journals
of Collin Brooks, 1932-1940, Ed. N. J. Crowson,
lisher) Camden Fifth Series Vol.II, University of
Cambridge, 1998, ISBN 0 521 66239 7
Old Mrs Warren, Faith Wolseley, 1939, 324p, a humorous
[5] Housewife of England, by Gordon Beckles, photo
novel
article in Leader Magazine, 12 July 1947. Copyright
Thus My Orient, (12 short stories), Hubert S Banner, 1947,
Picture Post (defunct). Hull University Archives ref
220p
DCL/16/11
Stony Ground, John Norwood, 1946, The Australia Book for
[6] Review quote: "as the most extra-ordinary story I
English Boys & Girls (and Their Parents), 158p
ever read", from the Managing Director of of one of
With the Fourteenth Army, D F Karaka, 1945, first account
the largest publishing firms in London. (book
of the Burma Campaign, not a war book, or authoritative
review featured in ’The Dominance of England’
treatise on the 14th Army, just a personal diary. 85p
published 1960)
Empire Relations – The Peter Le Neve Foster Lecture, Delivered
[7] (Dorothy Becker), England & Wales, Death Index:
on the 3rd June 1942, at the Royal Society of Arts by The Right
1916-2005, Vol 12, Page 710
Hon. The Viscount Bennett, P.C.,K.C., R. B. Bennett 1945 43p,
[8] James Hinton, Women, Social Leadership, and the
Song of the City, 1943, Peter Abrahams (South African au-
Second World War: Continuities of Class OUP, 2002
thor) Novel, 179p One of South Africa’s most prominent
black writers,
Mine Boy, 1946, Peter Abrahams, his seminal novel, the Persondata
first author to bring the horrific reality of South Africa’s Name Crisp, Dorothy
apartheid system of racial discrimination to internation- Alternative names
al attention.
Short description
By Parachute to Warsaw, Marek Celt -pen name of Tadeusz
Chciuk-Celt, 1945, Polish National Hero & wartime agent. Date of birth 1906
The author’s eye-witness account of conditions in Poland Place of birth
on his second parachute courier mission in April–July
Date of death 1987
1944.
Between Tears and Laughter, Lin Yutang, 1945, Chinese au- Place of death
thor & Inventor, written during World War II, was his
bitter plea for the west to change its perspective of the
world order.
One Hour of Justice, Arthur Cecil Alport, 1946, 311p, a de-
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dorothy_Crisp&oldid=469397898"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dorothy Crisp
Categories:
• 1906 births
• 1987 deaths
• People from Leeds
• English political writers
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