Jane Birdwood
Encyclopedia
Jane Birdwood, Baroness Birdwood (18 May 1913 — 28 June 2000) was the wife of Lord Birdwood
and a political figure on the far right
in the United Kingdom
who took part in a number of movements.
, the daughter of a singer from Hull and a mother from Newcastle; the family returned to Britain and settled in Yorkshire in the 1920s. She changed her name to Jane in order to avoid confusion with a popular radio actress of the time. She was cited as a correspondent in the divorce case of Lieutenant Colonel The Hon. Christopher Birdwood (the son of Field Marshal
William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood
) and became his second wife after the divorce was finalised in 1954; her husband's father had died in 1952.
group that sought to aid refugees from Eastern Europe. Her activities also brought her into contact with such groups as the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations
and individuals such as Yaroslav Stetsko
.
Around the same time, she allied herself with campaigns to support public decency, and was briefly associated with Mary Whitehouse
, becoming chair of the London branch of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association
. In this role, she attempted to launch a number of prosecutions against productions and writers that offended her sense of taste, including the producers of controversial theatrical revue Oh! Calcutta!
and actor John Bird
, the author of the play Council of Love.
Lady Birdwood became involved in campaigns against trade union
s, setting up the Citizens Mutual Protection Society in the early 1970s, which launched a failed attempt to run a private postal service. She took a leading role in several far right
pressure groups, including the Immigration Control Association, Common Cause, the British League of Rights
(of which she was General Secretary) and Self Help, the latter attempting, unsuccessfully, to charge Arthur Scargill
with treason.
Following her departure, she was associated with the British National Front
for a short spell. She also worked with Ross McWhirter
at this time on his magazine Majority, and became a vocal critic of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
after his murder. She also devoted much time to the World Anti-Communist League
.
One of her major failed efforts had her calling for the UK to enforce the Edict of Expulsion
against English Jews in 1290, insisting the edict had never been revoked, although successive British governments had, in fact, overturned the edict, beginning with Oliver Cromwell
.
She stood in the 1983 by-election in Bermondsey
as an independent candidate, winning 69 votes, and attacked her opponents by labelling the Tory candidate a "multiracialist" and the NF candidate a "socialist
". She was equally unsuccessful when she stood as a British National Party
candidate in the 1992 general election
in Dewsbury
. Through much of her later life, she published the journal Choice, which presented a right wing stance but was generally independent of any political party.
and claimed the existence of a subversive Jewish conspiracy in Britain. She was sentenced to 3 months in prison, suspended. Three years earlier she had been convicted of distributing anti-semitic literature with the intention of strring up racial hatred.
Lady Birdwood continued to lead British Solidarity as a pressure group, publish Choice and run a publishing venture, Inter City Researchers, until late 1999 when she was forced to stand down for health reasons. After her retirement most of these concerns passed into the hands of her associates, the former National Front co-leader Martin Webster
and Peter Marriner, also a former British Movement
activist.
Christopher Birdwood, 2nd Baron Birdwood
Christopher Bromhead Birdwood, 2nd Baron Birdwood MVO was a British Hereditary peer, soldier and author.The son of Field Marshal William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood and Janetta Hope Gonville Bromhead . He was baptised at Twickenham, London, England...
and a political figure on the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
who took part in a number of movements.
Early life
She was born Joan Pollock Graham in Winnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the daughter of a singer from Hull and a mother from Newcastle; the family returned to Britain and settled in Yorkshire in the 1920s. She changed her name to Jane in order to avoid confusion with a popular radio actress of the time. She was cited as a correspondent in the divorce case of Lieutenant Colonel The Hon. Christopher Birdwood (the son of Field Marshal
Field Marshal (UK)
Field Marshal is the highest military rank of the British Army. It ranks immediately above the rank of General and is the Army equivalent of an Admiral of the Fleet and a Marshal of the Royal Air Force....
William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood
William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood
Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, CIE, DSO was a First World War British general who is best known as the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.- Youth and early career :Birdwood was born...
) and became his second wife after the divorce was finalised in 1954; her husband's father had died in 1952.
Political Activities
Initially serving only as a worker for her husband's passion, international aid, she expanded her political involvement after becoming a widow in 1962. She was a member of the League for European Freedom, an anti-communistAnti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
group that sought to aid refugees from Eastern Europe. Her activities also brought her into contact with such groups as the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations
Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations
Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations was a co-ordinating center for anti-Communist émigré political organizations from Soviet and other socialist countries. The A.B.N. formation dates back to an underground conference of representatives of non-Russian peoples that took place on November 1943, near...
and individuals such as Yaroslav Stetsko
Yaroslav Stetsko
Yaroslav Stetsko was the leader of the Bandera's Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists , from 1968 until death. In 1941, during Nazi Germany invasion into the Soviet Union he was self-proclaimed temporary head of the self-proclaimed Ukrainian statehood...
.
Around the same time, she allied herself with campaigns to support public decency, and was briefly associated with Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
, becoming chair of the London branch of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association
Mediawatch-uk
Mediawatch-uk, formerly known as the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, is a pressure group in the United Kingdom, which campaigns against the publication and broadcast of media content that it views as harmful and offensive, such as violence, profanity, sex, homosexuality and...
. In this role, she attempted to launch a number of prosecutions against productions and writers that offended her sense of taste, including the producers of controversial theatrical revue Oh! Calcutta!
Oh! Calcutta!
Oh! Calcutta! is an avant-garde theatrical revue, created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in London in 1970. It ran in London for over 3,900 performances, and in New York initially for 1,314...
and actor John Bird
John Bird (actor)
John Bird is an English satirist, actor and comedian.-Early life:Born in Bulwell, Nottingham, England, and educated at High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, Bird briefly joined the Socialist Party of Great Britain, while still at school...
, the author of the play Council of Love.
Lady Birdwood became involved in campaigns against trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, setting up the Citizens Mutual Protection Society in the early 1970s, which launched a failed attempt to run a private postal service. She took a leading role in several far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
pressure groups, including the Immigration Control Association, Common Cause, the British League of Rights
British League of Rights
The British League of Rights is an offshoot of the Australian League of Rights founded in 1971. It is "anti-semitic and white supremacist" political group. The British League opposed the entry of the UK into the European Economic Community....
(of which she was General Secretary) and Self Help, the latter attempting, unsuccessfully, to charge Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill is a British politician who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982 to 2002, leading the union through the 1984–85 miners' strike, a key event in British labour and political history...
with treason.
Following her departure, she was associated with the British National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
for a short spell. She also worked with Ross McWhirter
Ross McWhirter
Alan Ross Mayfield McWhirter , known as Ross McWhirter, was, with his twin brother, Norris McWhirter, co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records and a contributor to Record Breakers...
at this time on his magazine Majority, and became a vocal critic of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
after his murder. She also devoted much time to the World Anti-Communist League
World Anti-Communist League
The World League for Freedom and Democracy is an international anti-communist political organization founded in 1966 in Taipei, Republic of China , under the initiative of Chiang Kai-shek. It was founded with the aim of opposing Communism around the world through "unconventional" methods...
.
One of her major failed efforts had her calling for the UK to enforce the Edict of Expulsion
Edict of Expulsion
In 1290, King Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England. Lasting for the rest of the Middle Ages, it would be over 350 years until it was formally overturned in 1656...
against English Jews in 1290, insisting the edict had never been revoked, although successive British governments had, in fact, overturned the edict, beginning with Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
.
She stood in the 1983 by-election in Bermondsey
Bermondsey by-election, 1983
A by-election was held in the Bermondsey constituency in South London, on 24 February 1983, following the resignation of Labour MP Robert Mellish, who had represented the constituency and its predecessors in the House of Commons since 1946...
as an independent candidate, winning 69 votes, and attacked her opponents by labelling the Tory candidate a "multiracialist" and the NF candidate a "socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
". She was equally unsuccessful when she stood as a British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
candidate in the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
in Dewsbury
Dewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Dewsbury is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
. Through much of her later life, she published the journal Choice, which presented a right wing stance but was generally independent of any political party.
Later activities
In 1994, the 80 year old was prosecuted for violating the Public Order Act of 1986 by publishing her pamphlet, The Longest Hatred, which denied the HolocaustThe Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
and claimed the existence of a subversive Jewish conspiracy in Britain. She was sentenced to 3 months in prison, suspended. Three years earlier she had been convicted of distributing anti-semitic literature with the intention of strring up racial hatred.
Lady Birdwood continued to lead British Solidarity as a pressure group, publish Choice and run a publishing venture, Inter City Researchers, until late 1999 when she was forced to stand down for health reasons. After her retirement most of these concerns passed into the hands of her associates, the former National Front co-leader Martin Webster
Martin Webster
Martin Guy Alan Webster is a former leading figure on the far-right in British politics.-Early political activism:An early member of the Young Conservatives, from which he claimed to have been expelled, Webster was associated loosely with the League of Empire Loyalists until he joined the National...
and Peter Marriner, also a former British Movement
British Movement
The British Movement , later called the British National Socialist Movement , is a British neo-Nazi organisation founded by Colin Jordan in 1968. It grew out of the National Socialist Movement , which was founded in 1962...
activist.
Elections contested
| Date of election | Constituency | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 February 1983 Bermondsey by-election, 1983 A by-election was held in the Bermondsey constituency in South London, on 24 February 1983, following the resignation of Labour MP Robert Mellish, who had represented the constituency and its predecessors in the House of Commons since 1946... |
Bermondsey Bermondsey (UK Parliament constituency) Bermondsey was a borough constituency centred on the Bermondsey district of South London, England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom... |
'Independent Patriot' | 69 | 0.2 |
| 10 April 1986 Fulham by-election, 1986 The Fulham by-election, in Fulham, on 10 April 1986 was held following the death of the Conservative Member of Parliament Martin Stevens on 10 January that year... |
Fulham Fulham (UK Parliament constituency) Fulham was a borough constituency based around the London district of Fulham. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1918 and from 1955 to 1997.... |
England Demands Repatriation | 226 | 0.6 |
| 1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil... |
Dewsbury Dewsbury (UK Parliament constituency) Dewsbury is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election... |
British National Party British National Party The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982... |
660 | 1.1 |