Caroline Ganley Collection

This small collection consists of printed material mainly relating to Caroline Ganley’s time as a Labour and Co-op Party politician. The collection contains newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and correspondence including interactions between trade unions and the co-operative movement, programmes for Labour Day events and details of election meetings and addresses. Some material relates to the 1951 United Kingdom general election.

Caroline Ganley [1979-1966] was politically active and involved in social reform from an early age. She opposed the Second Boer War declaring herself as a pacifist and supported women’s suffrage. In 1906 she joined the Social Democratic Foundation and was involved in the setup of the Battersea branch of the Women’s Labour League. A letter she wrote to the Sunday Chronicle ensured the wives of servicemen were able to receive their allowances through the Post Office.

In 1919 she was elected to the Battersea Council as a member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, one of three women who were elected. Whilst in this role she worked as the chair of the Health Committee and was able to establish a maternity home for women in Battersea. In the next year she became one of the first women to become a magistrate, following the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919.

In 1935 she unsuccessfully ran as MP for Paddington North but succeeded in 1945 and became the Co-operative- Labour MP for Battersea South. She held this seat until 1951. In 1953 she was awarded a CBE and was re-elected to the Battersea council.

Ganley was involved in the co-operative movement and elected as a director for the West London Co-operative Society in 1918. Ganley continued acting as director for its successor the London Co-operative Society and was elected as the president of the society in 1942, the first woman to do so, holding the position till 1946. She was also involved in the Co-operative Women's Guild as a member of the Lavender Hill branch and also holding a number of positions within the Guild at a national level. Her involvement led to her being invited to be one of the speakers at the Guild’s diamond jubilee celebrations in 1943.

The material has been kept in the order if was found; however newspaper clippings have been placed into a separate folder to prevent damage.

The collection is available to view by appointment at the Co-op Archive, Holyoake House, Manchester.

Much of the material in the archive remains in copyright. Copyright is retained by the original owner of the papers, whose permission must be obtained before reproduction or publication of material can take place. It is the researcher's responsibility to obtain the relevant copyright holder's permission for reproduction or publication of the other material in the archive.

The collection was identified at the Co-op Archive in 2024 .The provenance of this material is unknown.

No further accruals are expected

GANLEY, Caroline Selina (1879-1966) held at the Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives http://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb372-ganley