Laura McLaren, Baroness Aberconway CBE, DStJ

Venerable Order of Saint John

The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...

 (b. 1854, Salford, England, UK

City of Salford

The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...

 – died 4 January 1933, Antibes

Antibes

Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...

) was a British suffragist and noblewoman. She was the daughter of Henry Davis Pochin

Henry Davis Pochin

Henry Davis Pochin was an English industrial chemist. He was the son of a yeoman farmer of Leicestershire who served an apprenticeship to James Woolley , a manufacturing chemist in Manchester, and in course of time became his partner. Woolley died in 1858 and Pochin kept a manuscript diary of...

, a noted industrialist and chemist.

Life

Born as Laura Elizabeth Pochin in 1854, she married, on 6 March 1877, Charles McLaren

Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway

Charles Benjamin Bright McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway, PC, QC, JP , known as Sir Charles McLaren, 1st Baronet between 1902 and 1911, was a Scottish jurist and Liberal Party politician. He was a landowner and industrialist.-Education:Born in Edinburgh, McLaren was the son of the politician Duncan...

, a business associate of her father's, in Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

. He would later be created Baron Aberconway

Baron Aberconway

Baron Aberconway, of Bodnant in the County of Denbigh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 21 June 1911 for the industrialist and Liberal politician Sir Charles McLaren, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Bodnant, Gwylgre and Hilders, on 8 August...

, and they would have four children.

Baroness Aberconway was a campaigner for women's suffrage

Women's suffrage

Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...

, founding the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union and publishing some writings on the subject. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, she converted her house in London into a hospital and helped run it.

Awards and honors

She was awarded the CBE in 1918. She was also named a Dame of Grace of the Venerable Order of St John.

Other

Aside from her political activities, she was a talented artist and gardner. She and her husband worked to expand and improve the Bodnant Garden

Bodnant Garden

Bodnant Garden is a National Trust property near Tal-y-Cafn, in the county borough of Conwy, Wales. Bodnant Garden is situated above the River Conwy and overlooks the Conwy valley towards the Carneddau range of mountains.- History :...

begun by her father.

Writings

• The women's charter or rights and liberties. London, John Sewell, 1909.
• The prime minister and women's suffrage London, John Sewell, 1913.