Abstract
The final chapter turns the spotlight onto women who broadcast on the BBC during the interwar years, addressing the key issues of appropriateness and authority. From the late 1920s, a handful of grandees such as Beatrice Webb spoke in the prestigious evening slots however the majority of talks by women were restricted to daytimes, when the female audience was at its height. Alongside Webb, three other women have been picked out for closer scrutiny: the garden expert Marion Cran, the feminist writer Ray Strachey and the housewife Mrs Edna Thorpe. As well as a discussion on the programme Men Talking, the problematic experiment of the short-lived female announcer Sheila Borrett is contrasted with the popularity of Olga Collett, the BBC’s first woman outside broadcaster.
Radio Times, 1 January1926
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Notes
- 1.
Radio Times, 1 January 1926.
- 2.
See, for example, Martin Shingler and Cindy Wieringa (1998) On Air: Methods and Meanings of Radio (London: Arnold); David Hendy (2000) Radio in the Global Age (Cambridge: Polity Press); Hugh Chignell (2009) Key Concepts in Radio Studies (London: Page).
- 3.
See, for example, Maggie Andrews (2012) Domesticating the Airwaves: Broadcasting, Domesticity and Femininity (London: Continuum) pp. 3–26.
- 4.
Ralph Wade (undated) Early Life at the BBC (Unpublished memoir) p. 3. Wade was the first Programme Assistant employed by the BBC, joining a few days before Ella Fitzgerald.
- 5.
Mary Somerville’s BBC Swansong, Governors Dinner, 20 December 1955.
- 6.
BBC/WAC:R13/419/1: Talks Department, ‘Broadcast Talks and Lectures: Suggestions to Speakers’, 22 December 1927.
- 7.
Lionel Fielden (1960) The Natural Bent (London: Andre Deutsch) p. 111.
- 8.
For impartiality and controversy in Talks see Paddy Scannell and David Cardiff (1991) A Social History of British Broadcasting, 1922–1939 (London: Basil Blackwood) pp. 23–38, 153–78; Asa Briggs (1961) The Birth of Broadcasting: The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom Vol. 1 (London: Oxford University Press) pp. 253–75; Asa Briggs (1965) The Golden Age of Wireless: The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Vol. 2 (London: Oxford University Press) pp. 124–60.
- 9.
Lady Rhondda complained about the lack of women broadcasters in the 1930s. Angela V. John (2013) Turning the Tide: The Life of Lady Rhondda (Cardigan: Parthian) p. 525.
- 10.
John Reith (1924) Broadcast over Britain (London: Hodder and Stoughton) p. 148.
- 11.
D.L. LeMahieu (1988) A Culture for Democracy: Mass Communications and the Cultivated Mind in Britain between the Wars (Oxford: Oxford University Press) pp. 182–3.
- 12.
BBC/WAC:R51/118:1a: Talks: Debates and Discussions 1926–36, Matheson to Eckersley, 20 August 1929.
- 13.
Olive Shapley (1996) Broadcasting: A Life (London: Scarlet Press) p. 53.
- 14.
See Scannell and Cardiff, A Social History of British Broadcasting, pp. 176–7; Mark Pegg (1983) Broadcasting and Society 1918–1939 (London: Croom Helm) pp. 160–2. Hendy argues that Received Pronunciation was viewed as an equalising force, David Hendy (2013) Public Service Broadcasting (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan) p. 24.
- 15.
News Chronicle, 29 January 1938, The Conference was organised by the Associated Country Women of the World.
- 16.
Hilda Matheson (1933) Broadcasting (London: Thornton Butterworth) p. 56.
- 17.
Radio Times, 23 June 1939.
- 18.
Radio Pictorial, 2 April 1937.
- 19.
Radio Times, 16 November 1934, ‘Women’s Broadcasting Number’.
- 20.
Radio Times, 5 February 1932.
- 21.
BBC/WAC:R51/118: 1a, 13 March 1936, Adams to Rose-Troup; Vera Britain Talks, 23 August 1940.
- 22.
Radio Times, 16 November 1934.
- 23.
Evening News, 30 June 1936.
- 24.
Radio Times, 21 November 1924.
- 25.
BBC/WAC: Margaret Bondfield Talks:1, Programme Contracts Executive to Bondfield, 21 January 1938.
- 26.
Hilda Matheson Letters (hereafter HML), 18 January 1929.
- 27.
HML, 17 February 1929.
- 28.
Radio Times, 6 August 1929.
- 29.
BBC/WAC: RCONT 1: Marion Cran Talks (hereafter MCT): Creswell to Barnes, 17 September 1937.
- 30.
The Women’s Farm and Garden Association was founded in 1899.
- 31.
Mrs George Cran (1913) Garden of Ignorance (London: Herbert Jenkins); (1921) Garden of Experience (London: Herbert Jenkins).
- 32.
Simon Elmes (2012) Hello Again: Nine Decades of Radio Voices (London: Random House) pp. 34–6.
- 33.
Marion Cran (1925) Garden Talks (London: Methuen).
- 34.
MCT, Cran to Sprott, 1 March 1931.
- 35.
MCT, Cran to Sprott, c. April 1931.
- 36.
Richard Lambert (1940) Ariel and All his Quality (London: Gollanz) pp. 112–14.
- 37.
MCT, 21 June 1929, 12 September 1929, 30 June 1930.
- 38.
For a discussion on C.H. Middleton see Elmes, Hello Again, pp. 61–5; Andrews Domesticating the Airwaves, pp. 66–81.
- 39.
MCT, Creswell to Barnes, 17 September 1937.
- 40.
MCT, Quigley to Cran, 2 November 1937.
- 41.
Radio Times, 20 December 1927.
- 42.
Barbara Caine (2005) Bombay to Bloomsbury: A Biography of the Strachey Family (Oxford: Oxford University Press) pp. 242, 316.
- 43.
BBC/WAC:LE(E)1A: Contributors: Mrs Ray Strachey:1a (hereafter RST:1a), Matheson to Strachey, 6 April 1927; Radio Times, 20 December 1927.
- 44.
RST:1a, Matheson to Strachey, 8 October 1928.
- 45.
RST:1a, Matheson to Strachey, 23 November 1928.
- 46.
RST:1a, Strachey to Matheson, letter wrongly dated 7 December 1927.
- 47.
RST:1a, March 12 1929, May 21 1929, 27 May 1929.
- 48.
BBC/WAC: RCONT 1: Mrs Ray Strachey, Talks, Matheson to ?, 3 July 1929.
- 49.
Radio Times, 1 February 1929.
- 50.
Caine, Bombay to Bloomsbury, pp. 310–20.
- 51.
Radio Times, 19 December 1929.
- 52.
BBC/WAC:LE(E)1b: Contributors: Mrs Ray Strachey:1b (hereafter RST:1b), Wace to Siepmann, 20 September 1933.
- 53.
RST:1b, Siepmann to Strachey, 14 December 1933.
- 54.
BBC/WAC:LE(E)1c: Contributors: Mrs Ray Strachey:1c (hereafter RST:1c), Wace to Strachey, 13 February 1934.
- 55.
Broadcast on 9 June 1935, 7 February 1935.
- 56.
RST:1c, Strachey to Quigley, 23 August 1937.
- 57.
Mary Agnes Hamilton gives a vivid description of the house. Mary Agnes Hamilton (1944) Remembering my Good Friends (London: Jonathan Cape) pp. 265–6.
- 58.
The Listener, 12 January 1938.
- 59.
BBC/WAC:R51/115/1: The Week in Westminster:1a, Wace to Maconachie, 12 April 1938.
- 60.
BBC/WAC:R51/115/1, Maconachie to Quigley, 21 April 1938.
- 61.
RST:1c, Quigley to Maconachie.
- 62.
Norman and Jeanne MacKenzie, eds. (2000) The Diaries of Beatrice Webb (London: Virago) pp. 464–5. Diary entry, 29 February 1928.
- 63.
BBC/WAC:910/Mrs Sidney Webb Talks:1 (hereafter BWT:1), Matheson to Webb, 23 March 1928.
- 64.
BWT:1, Webb to Lambert, 9 October 1928.
- 65.
The Listener, 13 March 1929.
- 66.
The Listener, 22 January 1930.
- 67.
The Listener, 30 July 1930.
- 68.
BWT:1, 14 October 1930.
- 69.
Mrs Sidney Webb Talks: 2 (hereafter BWT:2), Siepmann to Webb, 26 June 1931.
- 70.
BWT:2, Adams to Webb, 5 January 1932.
- 71.
BWT:2, Adams to Webb, 19 January 1932.
- 72.
BWT:2, Webb to Adams, 18 December 1931.
- 73.
For a discussion on the Webbs in Russia see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Beatrice Webb, entry 36802 by John Davis.
- 74.
BWT:2, Webb to Adams, 24 August 1932.
- 75.
MacKenzie, The Diaries of Beatrice Webb, p. 510. Diary entry, 22 September 1932.
- 76.
BWT:2, Webb to Adams, 16 February 1934.
- 77.
BWT:2, Adams to Dawnay, 26 November 1935.
- 78.
BBC/WAC: RCONT1: Edna Thorpe Talks:1(hereafter ETT:1), Thorpe to BBC, 20 March 1935.
- 79.
ETT:1, Wace to Thorpe, 22 March 1935, 3 April 1935.
- 80.
ETT:1, Wace to Siepmann, 11 June 1935.
- 81.
For example, ETT:1, Thorpe to Wace, 13 January 1936; Thorpe to Quigley, 4 January 1937; BBC/WAC: RCONT1: Edna Thorpe Talks:2 (hereafter ETT:2), Quigley to Midland Region Director, 5 October 1938.
- 82.
ETT:2, Luker to Dowler, 16 April 1936. George Luker produced the series.
- 83.
Broadcast 27 April 1936.
- 84.
Broadcast 10 January 1938.
- 85.
World Film News No.2, February 1938, quoted in Jeffrey Richards (1984) The Age of the Dream Palace: Cinema and Society 1930–1939 (London: Routledge) pp. 16, 65.
- 86.
Radio Times, 24 May 1938.
- 87.
ETT:2, Thorpe to Luker, 23 March 1938.
- 88.
ETT:2, Luker to Thorpe, 12 April 1938.
- 89.
ETT:2, Thorpe to Cox, 29 May 1938.
- 90.
BBC/WAC:R51/118: Debates and Discussions, Rose-Troup to Graves, 16 November 1936.
- 91.
BBC/WAC:R51/319: Men Talking (hereafter MT), Maconachie to Graves, 23 April 1937.
- 92.
MT, Notes on the experience gained running this series January–April 1937.
- 93.
MT, Maconachie to Graves, 23 April 1937.
- 94.
MT, Wilson to Maconachie (in consultation with Quigley), 21 June 1937.
- 95.
MT, Luker to Maconachie (in consultation with Quigley), 13 July 1937.
- 96.
MT, Luker to Maconachie, 28 September 1937.
- 97.
MT, Wilson to Luker, 8 October 1937.
- 98.
MT, Quigley to Maconachie, 8 October 1937.
- 99.
MT, Luker to Wilson, 11 October 1937.
- 100.
Broadcast on 18 November 1937.
- 101.
MT, Notes on the Men Talking Series by John Gloag, 28 December 1938.
- 102.
ETT:1, Quigley to Thorpe, 15 October 1937.
- 103.
ETT:1, Thorpe to Quigley, 18 December 1937.
- 104.
MT, Luker to Wilson, 11 October 1937.
- 105.
Broadcast between 1930 and 1935.
- 106.
Michele Hilmes (1997) Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922–1952 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press) pp. 58–9; Kate Lacey (1996) Feminine Frequencies: Gender, German Radio, and the Public Sphere, 1923–1945 (Michigan: University of Michigan Press) p. 199.
- 107.
Briggs, Birth of Broadcasting, p. 292.
- 108.
In 1925 announcers were required to wear dinner jackets.
- 109.
Evening World; Daily News and Chronicle, 21 July 1930.
- 110.
Evening News, 25 July 1933.
- 111.
Radio Pictorial, 10 January 1936.
- 112.
Lacey, Feminine Frequencies, p. 196.
- 113.
Hilmes, Radio Voices, pp. 141–4.
- 114.
Matheson, Broadcasting, p. 56.
- 115.
Radio Times, 4 August 1933.
- 116.
News Chronicle, 29 July 1933, quoted in Anne Karpf (2007) The Human Voice: The Story of a Remarkable Talent (London: Bloomsbury) pp. 158–9.
- 117.
Lacey, Feminine Frequencies. Lacey points out that it was still rare for women to fill these roles, pp. 200–1.
- 118.
Hilmes, Radio Voices, pp. 141–4.
- 119.
Karpf, The Human Voice, p. 159.
- 120.
The Daily Mail, 6 April 1934; Daily Express, 7 April 1934.
- 121.
Radio Pictorial, 9 March 1934.
- 122.
Quoted in Gordon Ross (1961) Television Jubilee, The Story of 25 Years of BBC Television (London: WH Allen) p. 32.
- 123.
Briggs, The Golden Age of Wireless, p. 622.
- 124.
BBC/WAC:R1/3/1: Board of Governors, Minutes, 27 June 1934.
- 125.
BBC/WAC:R1/7/1: Board of Governors, Minutes, 25 January 1939.
- 126.
Radio Times, 23 June 1939 ‘More Women Commentators’ by Irene Stiles.
- 127.
Radio Pictorial, 16 June 1939.
- 128.
Broadcast on 25 February 1937. Quigley and Collett developed a close working relationship and Collett broadcast many talks.
- 129.
BBC/WAC: OB Commentary: Mrs Olga Collett (hereafter OCC), Collett to Lotbiniere, 30 March 1937 .
- 130.
BBC/WAC: RCONT1: Marjorie Pollard Talks: 1, Programme Contracts to Pollard, 30 April 1937.
- 131.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Marjorie Anne Pollard, entry 65061, by Judith Wilson. See also Adrian Bingham (2004) Gender, Modernity, and the Popular Press in Inter-War Britain (Oxford: Clarendon Press) pp. 69–74.
- 132.
Marjorie Pollard Talks:1, Wilson to Midland Regional Director, 27 April 1936.
- 133.
BBC/WAC:R30/428/1: Commentators, 22 January 1937. Seven people were trialled on this day including two women.
- 134.
OCC, Lotbiniere to Collett, 14 April 1937.
- 135.
BBC Sound archive, 41963, Olga Collett interviewed by John Lane, 26 July 1983.
- 136.
This was in a closely contested by-election in March 1928 for the seat of Middlesbrough West.
- 137.
‘Other Women’s Lives’, 29 May 1937.
- 138.
OCC, Collett to Lotbiniere, 21 April 1937.
- 139.
OCC, Lotbiniere to Collett, 22 April 1937.
- 140.
BBC/WAC:R1/73/7: Board of Governors: DG’s Reports and Papers, 14 July 1937.
- 141.
‘Other Women’s Lives’
- 142.
Olga Collett interview.
- 143.
OCC, Collett to Lotbiniere, 25 June 1937.
- 144.
Radio Times, 28 October 1938.
- 145.
BBC Sound Archive 10293, ‘What is Good Radio’, 22 November 1946.
- 146.
Evening Standard, 23 March 1939.
- 147.
OCC, Outside Broadcast Executive to Talks Booking Executive, 11 May 1939.
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Murphy, K. (2016). ‘You Feel Their Personal Touch’: Women Broadcasters. In: Behind the Wireless. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-49173-2_8
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