Tag: history

Who Was Nancy Astor? – Opinion
Plymouth, Politics

Who Was Nancy Astor? – Opinion

BY RORY EAVES Nancy Astor - Unknown photographer, 1923 Rightly or wrongly, I had never heard of Nancy Astor until I came to Plymouth, and even then I never took the initiative to find out more about her. I knew nothing about her being the first female Member of Parliament to take her seat, nor did I know anything about her vocalisation of anti-Semitic views. Considering that I studied Woman's Suffrage and pre-WWII Europe for GCSE history, it's quite alarming that such a pivotal and important figure such as Nancy Astor never once came up. Time to right that wrong and explore the life and importance of one of Plymouth's most famous public figures. Nancy Astor's Claim to Fame Nancy Astor is revered and remembered as the first female British MP to take her seat in 1919 for Pl...