Nina Boyle
Encyclopedia
Constance Antonina Boyle (21 December 1865–4 March 1943), was a British journalist
, campaigner for women’s suffrage
and women’s rights
, charity
and welfare
worker and novelist. She was one of the pioneers of the women's police service in Britain and in April 1918 she was the first woman to be nominated to stand for election to the House of Commons, paving the way for other female candidates at the general election
later that year.
in Kent
. Through her father, Robert Boyle (1830–1869), a captain in the Royal Artillery
and younger son of David Boyle, Lord Boyle, she was descended from the family of the Earls of Glasgow
. Her mother was Frances Sydney Fremoult Sankey, the daughter of a medical doctor. She never married.
and Boyle lived in South Africa
around this time. She did hospital work there and was employed as a journalist. While in South Africa she began to pursue her interest in women's rights, founding the Women's Enfranchisement League of Johannesburg
. She returned to Britain in 1911 and, drawing upon her experiences in South Africa became active in the Colonial Intelligence League for Educated Women, a mainstream group of which Princess Christian
, the daughter of Queen Victoria was the President. The League was set up to help women who had received a good formal education make use of their skills in British territories abroad, where they might otherwise be ignored, and once they had returned home.
But Boyle had more radical opinions about how women’s position in society could be improved. She was soon associated with the Women's Freedom League
(WFL), with other well-known suffragettes, Charlotte Despard
, Teresa Billington-Greig
, Edith How-Martyn
and Margaret Nevinson
. Boyle was quickly elected to the WFL’s executive committee and became one of its leading speakers. By 1912, she was its secretary. The WFL was a breakaway organisation from the Women's Social and Political Union
(WSPU), formed in 1907. The WFL had split from WSPU over the increasingly personal control of that organisation by the Pankhurst
family and opposed the violent tactics used by the WSPU, preferring civil disobedience
and traditional campaigning.
She continued her journalism, having many articles published in the WFL’s newspaper, The Vote. She took a leading role in the WFL’s campaigns and demonstrations, was arrested on several occasions and was imprisoned three times. Having been arrested for obstruction in 1913 and sentenced to 14 days imprisonment, she protested about the conditions in which she and a fellow suffragist were taken to prison. Their prison van also contained men who made lewd and sexual remarks and gestures.
It was as result of this sort of experience at the hands of the police and within the criminal justice system and consistent with WFL policy on equal employment opportunities, Boyle started a campaign for women to become Special Constables
. This campaign coincided with the outbreak of war in 1914 and the call for volunteers for the war effort which Boyle wished to see taken up by women as well as men. When the request was officially refused, Boyle, together with Margaret Damer Dawson, a wealthy philanthropist
and herself a campaigner for women’s rights, established the first voluntary women's police force, the Women Police Volunteers (WPV). Together with Mary Sophia Allen
they won the approval of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
to train and patrol in London on a voluntary basis with the role of offering advice and support to women and children to help prevent sexual harassment and abuse. Boyle herself was one of the first women to appear in a police uniform.
For Boyle, the WPV was an opportunity to challenge male control of the practice of the law particularly in relation to sexual issues and it the policing in this area that led to differences of opinion and approach within the WPV. The original emphasis of the WVP was the protection, welfare and morality of young women and prostitutes loitering near railway stations used by servicemen. While this side of their work was generally approved, Boyle was to become alarmed that her organisation and other similar initiatives were being used to support anti-female propaganda and to curtail women’s civil liberties. She also deplored the adoption of Defence of the Realm Regulation 40D, an anti-prostitution measure that in many people's view revived some of the objectionable features of the nineteenth-century Contagious Diseases Acts
She described Regulation 40D as 'besmirching' the good name of women.
In February 1915, Boyle split away from the organisation over the use of the WPV to enforce a curfew
on women of so-called ‘loose character’ near a service base in Grantham
. She also denounced the use of the Defence of the Realm Act by the authorities in Cardiff
to impose a curfew on what were described as ‘women of a certain class’ between the hours of 7 pm and 8 am. Boyle saw the WPV as an instrument to help and support women - not to control their activities. However, most of the WPV supported Dawson and the progress the corps was making towards gaining aacceptance for the role women in police work. Dawson changed the name of the corps to the Women Police Service and ended all links with the WFL. While the WPV continued to patrol on its own terms in Brighton
and part of London until 1916, Dawson’s new service enjoyed much greater success, carrying out contract work for the Ministry of Munitions and the Royal Irish Constabulary
. Though both organisations helped accustom the government and the British public to the exercise of policing functions by women, it was the members of a third organisation--the Voluntary Women Patrols of the National Union of Women Workers--who would be drawn upon to form Britain's first official women police force, the Metropolitan Police Women Patrols, in 1918.
and Serbia
to do hospital duty . She also performed other war relief work in the Balkans
, for which she was awarded the Samaritan Order of Serbia and the allied medal. After the Russian Revolution she travelled in Russia
with fellow Suffragette Lilian Lenton
, an experience which would make her a lifelong anti-Communist.
MP for Keighley
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
, Sir Swire Smith
died causing a by-election
. Although women over thirty gained the vote in 1918, there was some doubt as to whether women were eligible to stand for parliament
. Boyle made known her intention to stand as a candidate for the WFL at Keighley and if refused would take the matter to the courts to obtain a definitive ruling. After some legal consideration, the Returning Officer
stated that he was prepared to accept her nomination, thus establishing an important precedent for women candidates. However he ruled her nomination papers invalid on other grounds. One of the signatories to her nomination was not on the electoral roll and another lived outside the constituency. While Boyle did not therefore get to appear on the ballot paper, she claimed a moral victory for women’s suffrage rights and cleared the way for others to stand and win election a few months later at the 1918 general election
.
, the Women's Election Committee, the Open Door Council
(which aimed to remove protective barriers that restricted women's employment opportunities) and also organizations concerned with the welfare
of women and children in developing countries
. She was particularly active in the Save the Children
Fund (SCF), and in 1921 she went to the USSR to work in an SCF famine relief
programme. She used her position in the SCF to raise the issue of sex slavery and trafficking of women for prostitution. She wrote frequent articles for SCF publications and made many speeches as an SCF representative. She also supported the work of the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene, a campaigning organisation for the prevention of the exploitation of prostitutes and their welfare.
After the war and the winning of women’s political rights, Boyle, like many ex-suffragettes, turned politically to the right, though not to the same extent as her former associate Mary Allen
who became a member of the British Union of Fascists
. She was a speaker at a meeting of the anti-German and anti-immigrant British Empire Union
(BEU) in 1921, and shared a meeting with Margaret Lloyd George
later that year. In the by-election
for the Abbey Division of Westminster held on 25 August 1921, she spoke in favour of the victorious Conservative
candidate, John Sanctuary Nicholson
. During the Second World War, she was also active in the Never Again Association, a body similar to the BEU that campaigned for the dismemberment of Germany and the expulsion from Britain of all persons born in Axis countries
.
, London, on 4 March 1943, aged 77 and was cremated at Golders Green
on 9 March.
For some years after Boyle’s death, Bedford College (London) offered a Nina Boyle memorial prize for the best essay on a subject connected with the position and work of women.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media 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...
and women’s rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
, charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
and welfare
Welfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
worker and novelist. She was one of the pioneers of the women's police service in Britain and in April 1918 she was the first woman to be nominated to stand for election to the House of Commons, paving the way for other female candidates at the general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
later that year.
Family
Nina Boyle was born in BexleyBexley
Bexley is an South East London]] in the London Borough of Bexley, London, England. It is located on the banks of the River Cray south of the Roman Road, Watling Street...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Through her father, Robert Boyle (1830–1869), a captain in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
and younger son of David Boyle, Lord Boyle, she was descended from the family of the Earls of Glasgow
Earl of Glasgow
Earl of Glasgow is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for David Boyle, Lord Boyle, one of the commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Union uniting the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain...
. Her mother was Frances Sydney Fremoult Sankey, the daughter of a medical doctor. She never married.
Career
Two of Boyle’s brothers served in the Boer WarSecond Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
and Boyle lived in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
around this time. She did hospital work there and was employed as a journalist. While in South Africa she began to pursue her interest in women's rights, founding the Women's Enfranchisement League of Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. She returned to Britain in 1911 and, drawing upon her experiences in South Africa became active in the Colonial Intelligence League for Educated Women, a mainstream group of which Princess Christian
Princess Helena of the United Kingdom
Princess Helena was a member of the British Royal Family, the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert....
, the daughter of Queen Victoria was the President. The League was set up to help women who had received a good formal education make use of their skills in British territories abroad, where they might otherwise be ignored, and once they had returned home.
But Boyle had more radical opinions about how women’s position in society could be improved. She was soon associated with the Women's Freedom League
Women's Freedom League
The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigned for women's suffrage and sexual equality.The group was founded in 1907 by seventy members of the Women's Social and Political Union including Teresa Billington-Greig, Charlotte Despard, Elizabeth How-Martyn, and...
(WFL), with other well-known suffragettes, Charlotte Despard
Charlotte Despard
Charlotte Despard was a British-born, later Irish-based suffragist, novelist and Sinn Féin activist....
, Teresa Billington-Greig
Teresa Billington-Greig
Teresa Billington-Greig was a suffragette who created the Women's Freedom League. She left another suffrage organisation the WSPU as she considered the leadership too autocratic.-Life:...
, Edith How-Martyn
Edith How-Martyn
Edith How-Martyn, nee How was a British suffragette and a member of the Women's Social and Political Union . She was arrested in 1906 for attempting to make a speech in the House of Commons. This was one of the first acts of suffragette militancy.-Life:Edith How was born in London in 1875, an...
and Margaret Nevinson
Margaret Nevinson
Margaret Nevinson was a British suffrage campaigner.Nevinson was one of the suffragettes who split from the Women's Social and Political Union in 1907 to form the Women's Freedom League...
. Boyle was quickly elected to the WFL’s executive committee and became one of its leading speakers. By 1912, she was its secretary. The WFL was a breakaway organisation from the Women's Social and Political Union
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom...
(WSPU), formed in 1907. The WFL had split from WSPU over the increasingly personal control of that organisation by the Pankhurst
Pankhurst
Pankhurst is a surname, and may refer to:Members of a prominent family of suffragettes:* Emmeline Pankhurst , one of the founders of the British suffragette movement...
family and opposed the violent tactics used by the WSPU, preferring civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
and traditional campaigning.
Women’s Freedom League activism
In 1912, Boyle became head of the WFL's political and militant department.She continued her journalism, having many articles published in the WFL’s newspaper, The Vote. She took a leading role in the WFL’s campaigns and demonstrations, was arrested on several occasions and was imprisoned three times. Having been arrested for obstruction in 1913 and sentenced to 14 days imprisonment, she protested about the conditions in which she and a fellow suffragist were taken to prison. Their prison van also contained men who made lewd and sexual remarks and gestures.
It was as result of this sort of experience at the hands of the police and within the criminal justice system and consistent with WFL policy on equal employment opportunities, Boyle started a campaign for women to become Special Constables
Special constable
A Special Constable is a law enforcement officer who is not a regular member of a police force. Some like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police carry the same law enforcement powers as regular members, but are employed in specific roles, such as explosive disposal technicians, court security, campus...
. This campaign coincided with the outbreak of war in 1914 and the call for volunteers for the war effort which Boyle wished to see taken up by women as well as men. When the request was officially refused, Boyle, together with Margaret Damer Dawson, a wealthy philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
and herself a campaigner for women’s rights, established the first voluntary women's police force, the Women Police Volunteers (WPV). Together with Mary Sophia Allen
Mary Sophia Allen
Mary Sophia Allen was a Welsh-born British woman who worked for women's rights. She is chiefly noted as one of the founders of the Women's Police Volunteers as well as for her involvement in far right political activity....
they won the approval of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service, classing the holder as a chief police officer...
to train and patrol in London on a voluntary basis with the role of offering advice and support to women and children to help prevent sexual harassment and abuse. Boyle herself was one of the first women to appear in a police uniform.
For Boyle, the WPV was an opportunity to challenge male control of the practice of the law particularly in relation to sexual issues and it the policing in this area that led to differences of opinion and approach within the WPV. The original emphasis of the WVP was the protection, welfare and morality of young women and prostitutes loitering near railway stations used by servicemen. While this side of their work was generally approved, Boyle was to become alarmed that her organisation and other similar initiatives were being used to support anti-female propaganda and to curtail women’s civil liberties. She also deplored the adoption of Defence of the Realm Regulation 40D, an anti-prostitution measure that in many people's view revived some of the objectionable features of the nineteenth-century Contagious Diseases Acts
Contagious Diseases Acts
The Contagious Diseases Acts were originally passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1864, with further alterations and editions made to it in 1866 and 1869. In 1862, a committee was established to inquire into venereal disease in the armed forces; on its recommendation the first...
She described Regulation 40D as 'besmirching' the good name of women.
In February 1915, Boyle split away from the organisation over the use of the WPV to enforce a curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
on women of so-called ‘loose character’ near a service base in Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
. She also denounced the use of the Defence of the Realm Act by the authorities in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
to impose a curfew on what were described as ‘women of a certain class’ between the hours of 7 pm and 8 am. Boyle saw the WPV as an instrument to help and support women - not to control their activities. However, most of the WPV supported Dawson and the progress the corps was making towards gaining aacceptance for the role women in police work. Dawson changed the name of the corps to the Women Police Service and ended all links with the WFL. While the WPV continued to patrol on its own terms in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
and part of London until 1916, Dawson’s new service enjoyed much greater success, carrying out contract work for the Ministry of Munitions and the Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
. Though both organisations helped accustom the government and the British public to the exercise of policing functions by women, it was the members of a third organisation--the Voluntary Women Patrols of the National Union of Women Workers--who would be drawn upon to form Britain's first official women police force, the Metropolitan Police Women Patrols, in 1918.
War work
In late 1916, Boyle went to MacedoniaMacedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
to do hospital duty . She also performed other war relief work in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, for which she was awarded the Samaritan Order of Serbia and the allied medal. After the Russian Revolution she travelled in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
with fellow Suffragette Lilian Lenton
Lilian Lenton
Lilian Ida Lenton was an English dancer, suffragist, arsonist, and winner of a French Red Cross medal for her service as an Orderly in World War I.-Early years:...
, an experience which would make her a lifelong anti-Communist.
Keighley by-election, 1918
In March 1918, the sitting LiberalLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
MP for Keighley
Keighley (UK Parliament constituency)
Keighley is a county 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.- Boundaries :...
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, Sir Swire Smith
Swire Smith
Sir Swire Smith was an English woollen manufacturer, educationalist and Liberal Party politician. In many ways he was typical of the public-spirited, self-made Victorian...
died causing a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
. Although women over thirty gained the vote in 1918, there was some doubt as to whether women were eligible to stand for parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. Boyle made known her intention to stand as a candidate for the WFL at Keighley and if refused would take the matter to the courts to obtain a definitive ruling. After some legal consideration, the Returning Officer
Returning Officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.-Australia:In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a State Electoral Commission who heads the local divisional office...
stated that he was prepared to accept her nomination, thus establishing an important precedent for women candidates. However he ruled her nomination papers invalid on other grounds. One of the signatories to her nomination was not on the electoral roll and another lived outside the constituency. While Boyle did not therefore get to appear on the ballot paper, she claimed a moral victory for women’s suffrage rights and cleared the way for others to stand and win election a few months later at the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
.
Post-war
After 1918, Boyle remained active in a number of important women's organisations. She campaigned or addressed meetings on behalf of the National Union of Women TeachersNational Union of Women Teachers
Founded in 1904 as the Equal Pay League, part of the National Union of Teachers, in 1906 this United Kingdom organisation was re-named the National Federation of Women Teachers. In 1920, it broke away to form an independent trade union, the National Union of Women Teachers...
, the Women's Election Committee, the Open Door Council
Open Door Council
The Open Door Council, established in May 1926, was a British organisation pressing for equal economic opportunities for women. It opposed the extension of 'protective legislation' for women, regarding such legislation as 'restrictive' and arguing that it effectively barred women from better-paid...
(which aimed to remove protective barriers that restricted women's employment opportunities) and also organizations concerned with the welfare
Welfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
of women and children in developing countries
Developing country
A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...
. She was particularly active in the Save the Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
Fund (SCF), and in 1921 she went to the USSR to work in an SCF famine relief
Famine relief
Famine relief is an organized effort to reduce starvation in a region in which there is famine. A famine is a phenomenon in which a large proportion of the population of a region or country are so undernourished that death by starvation becomes increasingly common...
programme. She used her position in the SCF to raise the issue of sex slavery and trafficking of women for prostitution. She wrote frequent articles for SCF publications and made many speeches as an SCF representative. She also supported the work of the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene, a campaigning organisation for the prevention of the exploitation of prostitutes and their welfare.
After the war and the winning of women’s political rights, Boyle, like many ex-suffragettes, turned politically to the right, though not to the same extent as her former associate Mary Allen
Mary Sophia Allen
Mary Sophia Allen was a Welsh-born British woman who worked for women's rights. She is chiefly noted as one of the founders of the Women's Police Volunteers as well as for her involvement in far right political activity....
who became a member of the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
. She was a speaker at a meeting of the anti-German and anti-immigrant British Empire Union
British Empire Union
The British Empire Union was created in the United Kingdom during World War I, in 1916, after changing its name from the Anti-German Union, which had been founded in 1915...
(BEU) in 1921, and shared a meeting with Margaret Lloyd George
Margaret Lloyd George
Dame Margaret Lloyd George, GBE , née Margaret Owen, was the first wife of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George - from 1888 until her death in 1941.-Biography:...
later that year. In the by-election
Westminster Abbey by-election, 1921
The Westminster Abbey by-election, 1921 was a parliamentary by-election held on 25 August 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament William Burdett-Coutts had died on 28 July 1921...
for the Abbey Division of Westminster held on 25 August 1921, she spoke in favour of the victorious Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
candidate, John Sanctuary Nicholson
John Sanctuary Nicholson
Brigadier-General John Sanctuary Nicholson, CB, CMG, CBE, DSO was a British soldier and politician. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1921 to 1924....
. During the Second World War, she was also active in the Never Again Association, a body similar to the BEU that campaigned for the dismemberment of Germany and the expulsion from Britain of all persons born in Axis countries
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
.
Novelist and publications
Apart from her journalism and campaigning material Boyle wrote mostly adventure or mystery novels. They were not critically acclaimed but many featured strong, capable women characters and were clearly popular enough for publishers to keep putting them out.Campaign books
- The Traffic in Women: Unchallenged facts and figures - WFL, 1913
- What is Slavery? An Appeal to Women – H R Grubb, Croydon 1931
Novels
- Out of the Frying Pan - Allen and Unwin, London 1920
- What became of Mr Desmond - Allen and Unwin, London 1922
- Nor all Thy Tears - Allen and Unwin, London 1923
- Anna’s - Allen and Unwin, London 1925
- Moteley’s Concession: A tale of Torronascar - Allen and Unwin, London 1926
- The Stranger Within the Gates - Allen and Unwin, London 1926
- The Rights of Mallaroche - Allen and Unwin, London 1927
- Treading on Eggs - Stanley Paul & Co., London 1929
- My Lady’s Bath - Stanley Paul & Co., London 1931
- The Late Unlamented - Stanley Paul & Co., London 1931
- How could they? - Stanley Paul & Co., London 1932
- Good Old Potts! – Stanley Paul & Co., London 1934
Death
Boyle died in a nursing home at 99 Cromwell RoadCromwell Road
Cromwell Road is a major road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, and is designated part of the A4. It was created in the 19th century and is named after Oliver Cromwell....
, London, on 4 March 1943, aged 77 and was cremated at Golders Green
Golders Green
Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...
on 9 March.
For some years after Boyle’s death, Bedford College (London) offered a Nina Boyle memorial prize for the best essay on a subject connected with the position and work of women.