Papers of Mrs I. M. Brocklebank, 1924-1970

This collection comprises minute books, correspondence, printed material and photographs, compiled by Mrs I. M. Brocklebank (1924-1970), relating to her involvement with the Dagenham Group of Labour Party Councillors, the Dagenham Labour Party, the Dagenham Consumer Council the Dagenham Co-operative Film Society and Dagenham Arts Council. Including:

Mrs Isobel Minerva Brocklebank (1886-1975) was born in Hoxton, Shoreditch, and was educated at St. John's Higher Grade School, where she later became a teacher.

She came to Dagenham, with her husband and four children, in 1925. She took up teaching again, and both she and her husband entered into the communal and political life of the growing town. Nine years later, her husband died and she intensified her interest in the work of the local government. She went on to serve as a member of the Libraries Committee from 1933 to 1939.

Mrs I. M. Brocklebank was evacuated with her school to Suffolk at the outbreak of the Second World War. However she returned a few months later to help organise home teaching in Dagenham. Later in the war she was evacuated again with children to Somerset, where she organised collections for the Red Cross and acted as warden of a Youth Club.

From 1946 to 1953, Mrs I. M. Brocklebank was a member of Dagenham Borough Council, and was re-elected in 1954. During this time she served on the Dagenham Committee for Education and the Public Libraries Committee. She was also one of the founding members and then chairman of the Dagenham Arts Council.

Since 1955, Mrs I. M. Brocklebank has been secretary of the Dagenham Divisional Labour Party, and chairman of the South Essex Labour Women's Advisory Council. She retired as a councillor in 1972 and died at the age of 89 on 1 February 1975.

The collection arrived at the archive in bundles, which were labelled 'Labour Party' (BD84/A-B), 'Valence Arts' (BD84/C-D), 'Consumer Council' (BD84/E) and 'Labour History' (BD84/F). There was also some further unlabelled bundles that have been brought together to form a composite series of personal papers with the notebooks on the history of the Labour Party (BD84/F).

This material is open to research and can be viewed at the Barking and Dagenham Archive and Local Studies Centre. To make an appointment to visit the reading room, please telephone 020 8227 2033 or email at localstudies@lbbd.gov.uk.

Donated to Valence House Museum by the daughter of the creator, Miss Rose Brocklebank in 1975. The collection was subsequently transfered to the Archive and Local Studies Centre.in 2003.

Catalogued by Clare Sexton, Borough Archivist.

For further information about the contents of this collection, please contact the Barking and Dagenham Archive and Local Studies Centre by telephone 020 8227 2033 or email at localstudies@lbbd.gov.uk.

For further information about our reprographics and publication charges, please visit our website http://valencehousecollections.co.uk/

This collection was previously held by the daughter of the creator, Miss Rose Brocklebank.