Florence Barry
Florence Barry | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 May 1885 Birkenhead, Merseyside, England |
| Died | 1965 |
| Education | Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) Convent School for Young Ladies |
| Alma mater | Liverpool School of Social Sciences |
| Organization(s) | Women's Social and Political Union, Catholic Women’s Suffrage Society |
| Awards | Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal |
Florence Barry (14 May 1885–1965)[1] was a British suffragist, member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and leader of the Roman Catholic feminist organisation St. Joan’s International Alliance.
Biography
[edit]Barry was born in 1885 in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. Her father Zacharie Balthazar Barry (Bahri)[2] was a Persian immigrant who had been born in Smyrna, became a naturalised British subject and worked as a fruit merchant.[3] Her mother Frances Jane Barry (née Shrodder) was a charity worker of Austrian heritage.[3]
She was educated at the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) Convent School for Young Ladies, Upton, Cheshire, and the English Convent at Bruges, Belgium, before attending the Liverpool School of Social Sciences.[4]
Barry became active in the women's suffrage movement, and joined the WSPU.[5] In 1912, she became a member of the Catholic Women’s Suffrage Society (CWSS), later known as the St. Joan’s International Alliance, and was appointed the honorary secretary of the Liverpool branch. She held this post for fifty years.[6] Also in 1912, she attended the Catholic Congress at Norwich.[4] She would argue against ideas that politics and religion shared no common ground, stating that "in the Church we have the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, so surely we should have political works of mercy too."[7]
By 1915, Barry had been appointed to the CWSS National Executive Committee.[3][8] In 1927, Barry was amongst the signers of a letter to The Times newspaper supporting the vote for women over the age of 21.[3]
Barry also liaised with international Catholic organisations and women's rights activists on other issues,[9] such as communicating with the Trusteeship Council in support of questions they added to a questionnaire about the "physical integrity of women," which meant female circumcision (now known as female genital mutilation). She campaigned against "physical violations" of women.[10]
Pope Pius XII awarded Barry the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal in 1951, which is the highest papal honour that women can receive.[6]
She died in 1965.
References
[edit]- ^ Crawford, Elizabeth (2 September 2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928. Routledge. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-135-43402-1.
- ^ Cowman, Krista (1 January 2004). Mrs Brown is a Man and a Brother: Women in Merseyside's Political Organisations, 1890-1920. Liverpool University Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-85323-748-8.
- ^ a b c d Donnelly, Jo. "Florence Barry". Mapping Women's Suffrage, University of Warwick. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
- ^ a b "Florence Barry". Catholic Herald Archive. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
- ^ Cowman, Krista (2000). ""Crossing the Great Divide": Inter-organizational Suffrage Relationships on Merseyside, 1895-1914". In Eustance, Claire; Ryan, Joan; Ugolini, Laura (eds.). Suffrage Reader: Charting Directions in British Suffrage History. A&C Black. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-7185-0178-5.
- ^ a b Hartley, Cathy (15 April 2013). A Historical Dictionary of British Women. Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-135-35533-3.
- ^ Clark, Elaine (September 2004). "Catholics and the Campaign for Women's Suffrage in England". Church History. 73 (3): 635–665. doi:10.1017/S0009640700098322. ISSN 1755-2613.
- ^ Faherty, William Barnaby (1950). The Destiny of Modern Woman in the Light of Papal Teaching. Newman Press. pp. vii. ISBN 978-0-598-39355-5.
- ^ Rupp, Leila J. (8 December 2020). Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement. Princeton University Press. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-691-22181-6.
- ^ Russo, Giusi (2023). Women, Empires, and Body Politics at the United Nations, 1946–1975. University of Nebraska Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-4962-0581-0.