Maud Palmer, Countess of Selborne


Beatrix Maud Palmer, Countess of Selborne was a British political and women's rights activist.

Early life

Born in Marylebone as Beatrix Maud Gascoyne-Cecil, she was the eldest child of future Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, and his wife, the former Georgina Alderson.
Maud was not formally educated, but acquired an interest in conservatism and political affairs through her family and the local Primrose League.

Politics

At the 1885 [United Kingdom general election|1885 general election], her husband William, then Viscount Woolmer, was elected as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament, and while Maud remained a staunch Conservative Party supporter, she gradually won William to her views, as he first joined the Liberal Unionist Party split, then later became associated with the far right of the Conservative Party.
From 1905, William held various senior posts in South Africa, and Maud moved with him, associating herself with various local charities. They returned to the UK in 1910, and she became president of the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association. In this role, she toured the country, speaking in support of women's suffrage. While she initially only supported votes for wealthy single women, she later also supported the enfranchisement of married women, arguing that most married women were conservative. She stood down in 1913, and once World War I started, focused instead on promoting patriotism.
After the end of the war, the countess was less active, but became a Justice of the Peace in Hampshire, and served as president of the National [Council of Women of Great Britain & Ireland] in 1920/21.

Marriage and family

In 1883, Maud married William Palmer, Viscount Wolmer. They had three sons and one daughter.
Their eldest son, Roundell, eventually succeeded his father in the earldom as the 3rd Earl of Selborne. Their second son, the Hon. Robert Palmer, was a captain in the Hampshire Regiment and was killed on active service in 1916. Their daughter, Lady Mabel Laura Georgiana Palmer, became Countess Grey as the wife of Charles Grey, 5th Earl Grey.
William succeeded as Earl of Selborne in 1895, and Maud therefore became Countess of Selborne.

Legacy

Her name and picture are on the plinth of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London, unveiled in 2018.
There is a place called Lady Selborne near Pretoria that was bulldozed away during the apartheid era. Reparations have seen some of the historic occupants reclaiming their land despite local opposition. Many however have taken compensation.