REEVES MAUD PEMBER 1865 - 1953 FABIAN

This material is held atLSE Library Archives and Special Collections

Reference
- GB 97 COLL MISC 0847
Dates of Creation
- 1909-1913
Language of Material
- English.
Physical Description
- 1 box

Scope and Content

Household account books showing the weekly expenses of a group of working class mothers and housewives in Lambeth, London. Their names and addresses are given, and in some cases, information about their health and family circumstances. This collection appears to be the raw data for Maud Pember Reeves' Round about a Pound a Week. There are 58 account books in total.

Administrative / Biographical History

Magdalen Stuart Pember Reeves 1865 - 1953.

Maud Pember Reeves, the daughter of a bank manager, was born in Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia. In her youth she was involved in a successful campaign to obtain the vote for women in New Zealand. She married the journalist and politician William Pember Reeves (1857 - 1832) in New Zealand and came to London with him when he was appointed Agent General for the New Zealand government. Soon after her arrival in London she became involved in a variety of womens' organisations including the Women's Trade Union League, the National Union of Womens' Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and the National Anti-Sweating League. She was on the executive committee of the Fabian Society from 1907 and formed the Fabian Womens' Group in 1908. Pember and her fellow members campaigned for equal rights for women and state support for motherhood. In 1909 this group began a four year study into the daily lives and budgets of working class families in Lambeth, London. This study, written by Pember Reeves, appeared as Fabian Tract No. 162 Family Life on a Pound a Week and later as the book Round About a Pound a Week (1913). In the report she argued for a series of government reforms including child benefit, free health clinics and the provision of school meals.

She was an occasional lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where her husband was Director. She taught Economics and Social Science 1912 - 1914 and 1915 - 1916. During the war she served as Director of the Education and Propaganda Department of the Ministry of Food.