Paint & Varnish Manufacturer

29

Married

Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton

NUWSS

Absent abroad

Geoffrey Mander (1882-1962) a Wolverhampton paint and varnish manufacturer and later liberal MP, inherited Wightwick Manor in 1900 and was an outspoken supporter of the Suffragist Movement and an advocate of women’s equality. Geoffrey does not appear on the 1911 census, and was likely abroad with Mander Brothers company commitments.
In 1912, Geoffrey spoke at a local Women’s Liberal Association meeting (records show that he had been attending and addressing these meetings since at least 1907) and argued that every woman over the age of 21 should be able to vote and should be allowed to have seats in Parliament and sit on the Wolverhampton Town Council. However, he did argue that while he hoped women would get the vote in the next two years, it was too big a demand to put forward at the present time. Geoffrey reiterated his commitment to women’s right to vote in the Manders Monthly Messages pamphlets, which we believe were distributed to the work force and perhaps the local community. A year later in 1913, Geoffrey formally joined the Wolverhampton Women’s Suffrage Society. He presided over a meeting of the local society at Wightwick, which his wife (see) Florence hosted the speaker, Alicia Bewicke, on ‘Women of the East and West’. Geoffrey, with his wife Florence, also supported the 1913 NUWSS pilgrimage, led by Millicent Fawcett. When the travellers stopped in Wolverhampton a great meeting was held in the marketplace which was supported by Geoffrey and Florence. Geoffrey later served in the House of Commons, 1929-1945, as a radical Liberal MP. He quickly built a reputation for his skilful use of ‘parliamentary questions’. He tirelessly argued for women’s rights on many issues, including: the need for more women magistrates and policewomen; for restrictions of hours laundry workers could work; for increased maternity benefit and more maternity accommodation; and asked why some London universities refused to allow women to train as doctors. Geoffrey also challenged the Home Secretary on the introduction of legislation with the object of ‘removing the sex disqualification which prevents women taking their seats in the House of Lords and differentiates them from men in respect of inheritance, contract and restraint on anticipation, and other matters, with a view to facilitating a League of Nations convention on equal rights for men and women?’ The Home Secretary declined. In 1931 he was also one of the MPs to put forward a Domestic Service Bill, to establish a commission and charter to ensure female domestic workers were not exploited, had proper training, working conditions, pay, holidays and accommodation. Researched and contributed by Hannah Squire (Assistant Curator, National Public Programmes, National Trust).