A Woman’s Work: Shena Simon (1883 – 1972) working conditions, education and civic duty
When we think of key feminist figures in early 20th century Britain, we might think of Virginia Woolf, Emmeline Pankhurst or Millicent Fawcett. Whilst they certainly paved the way for women’s rights, there is someone who sits quietly in Manchester’s history who helped shape working conditions, secondary education and the local economy: the politician, social reformer and feminist, Shena Simon.
Early Life
Shena Dorothy Potter was born in 1883 in Croydon to John Wilson Potter and Jane Boyd Potter, a wealthy shipping family. As the second of nine children, she had a close relationship with her parents, who anticipated a domestic life for her. After being educated at home, she decided on attending Newnham College, Cambridge in 1904 to study Economics.
This gave her a new sense of freedom where young men and women could interact equally and discuss issues that affected them. It was here where she was introduced to influential figures like Alfred Marshall (her teacher and prominent economist) and new feminist friends, Dorothy Osmaston and Eva Spielman (Hubback).
During this time, she also began correspondence with Beatrice Webb, one of the founders of London School of Economics and a leading member of the Fabian Society (a British socialist organisation affiliated with the Labour party). Upon Webb’s advice, she took to studying at LSE for postgraduate studies and began research on the Labour Party. This, and her time at the university laid the foundation for a career in social reform.
Her interests soon evolved into industrial relations, particularly the sweated industries and wage boards, whereupon she visited Australia and New Zealand. She became honorary secretary of the Legislation Committee of the National Union of Women Workers and campaigned at the time of the National Insurance Act 1911. The Act interested because she wanted to ensure that women who were wives, domestic servants or lower paid would benefit from it. From then on, her momentum in the political sphere gathered and she realised that, despite not engaging in militant suffragette activity, the vote was needed to improve the status of women in society.
The Move to Manchester
At the age of 28, Shena made her first visit to Didsbury for a party with feminist and family planning campaigner, Eva Hubback. Here, she met Ernest Simon (Manchester Literary and Philosophical member), a wealthy businessman and aspiring social reformer, and the two married in November 1912. In October 1913, she gave birth to her first child, Roger followed by Brian in 1915 and then a daughter, Antonia in 1917. At aged 12, Antonia sadly passed away from cancer.
Shena wanted to engage with female voters in Didsbury and Withington so helped establish the Manchester and Salford Women Citizens Association (WCA) in 1914. The aim was to encourage women to participate in local government and realise what they could do for themselves. She also hoped that they would stand as candidates for the Board of Guardians and the Council.
This proved to be a success as by 1916, twelve branches had opened with five run by women. By 1930, the Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Manchester organised a gathering for the association which saw 2,000 women attend.
As part of the WCA, Shena campaigned and set up municipal maternity centres with the help of Ernest (who was on the Sanitary Committee) and chairman, Alderman William Turner Jackson. The aim was for women to receive support throughout their pregnancy and for children to be protected and cared for before birth, during infancy and when starting school. Ernest’s book, A City Council from Within claimed that the scheme had proved successful as infant deaths had dropped ‘from 173 per thousand in 1901-05 to 96 per thousand’ between 1920-24.
By 1921, Ernest become Lord Mayor, making Shena, Lady Mayoress. She made an immediate impact upon the women of the city by refusing to give out Christmas presents to children at St Mary’s Hospital, due to the lack of female staff and in management. The outcry that followed, particularly in the press, meant that it wasn’t long before two women were appointed to the managerial board.
It was clear that Shena was becoming the embodiment of civic duty. Throughout the year as Mayoress, she visited Manchester’s Babies Hospital, a specialist facility for premature and sick children and over fifty schools. She and Ernest also allowed the Department of Education to use their Didsbury family home as a day nursery.
Political Life
Shena stood for election in Chorlton in 1923 but lost by over 200 votes. She stood again the following year as a Liberal in Chorlton-cum-Hardy and won, serving as a council member until 1933. Her focus was on the Sanitary Committee, Education Committee and improved housing.
Out of 140 councillors, only three were women which was not good enough for Shena. She believed that women needed to work in order to be productive members of society and that their collective power was underdeveloped. She understood that there was a disparity between being married, being a mother and the ability to contribute to civic life, so began campaigning to remove the ban on married female teachers. This helped end Manchester’s policy requiring female teachers to resign when they married.
In 1926, Shena and Ernest purchased Wythenshawe Hall and 250 acres of parkland, donating it to the council to help tackle the working-class housing shortage. She became a member of the Wythenshawe Estate Special Committee and was chairwoman from 1931-33. Her aim was to develop a sense of community within the estate with access to education and amenities.
During this time, she lost her council seat and tried to return as an independent candidate in Wythenshawe in 1934. In 1935, she joined the Labour Party but stood unsuccessfully as a candidate in Moston in 1936. She was then appointed back on to the Manchester Education Committee until 1970.
Her interest in education meant she also joined the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education which helped form secondary education in the 1930s.
Contribution to Education
Most children after the age of eleven attended either a senior elementary, technical or grammar school (which had different codes of regulations). In grammar schools (which were often fee-paying) children could stay on until 18, but in senior elementary, they left at 14. This disproportionately restricted working-class children’s opportunities to remain in full-time education which Shena explored in her pamphlet, The School Leaving Age and Day Continuation School.
She wanted an equal code for all schools and universal secondary education. As the Consultative Committee went back and forth on whether to increase the school leaving age, Shena, along with Sir Percy Jackson and E.G Rowlison, proposed a post-primary single code. The evidence she gathered for this contributed to the Consultative Committee’s final report to level out provision of schools, have a leaving age of 16 and offer free or reduced fees at grammar schools.
The Education Act 1944 was subsequently welcomed by Shena but by 1948 she started to see the tripartite system as divisive. In her book, Three Schools or One? she argued that despite some fees abolished, poorer families still could not afford to keep their children in education and required them to work. She also came to believe that children should not be categorised into three types, depending on the school they attended, and instead be taught according to their aptitude and ability. She called for children to be taught collectively in one school but divided into sets with other children of similar abilities.
Local Economy
Rising costs in the city, specifically in welfare, meant a significant shift in municipal funding. Local government relied on funding from central government who were facing their own pressures. They implemented a fixed grant system whilst attempting to remove powers from councils they believed were costly.
Shena opposed this policy by claiming that block grants gave little financial security to local government, wouldn’t reflect the area’s specific needs and overall decreased the funding they received. She advocated for the autonomy and independence of Manchester Corporation and against the rise in rates – the latter of which she voiced in the Manchester Guardian (now The Guardian).
After the First World War, the housing shortage and price increases led to a rise in rents whilst the value of domestic properties were deemed inaccurate. This, Shena felt, affected the poorest households. Her paper, ‘Rates and the Householder’, examined the percentage of rates for twenty-one families living in Hulme (considered a slum area at the time) and found that it was significantly less than those living in better housing. This meant that there was little incentive for people to move out of slum areas, essentially threatening the work Shena and Ernest had invested into the working class. For Shena, it was now desperately apparent that affordable methods of funding were now a necessity for successful housing reform.
Her own financial model stressed the importance of sustainability and longevity in income with municipal independence. Citing the Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme, (which received a 50% grant from central government), she believed schemes like this should have be used by authorities for investment. In 1930, she campaigned against the council’s decision to raise the rates by ninepence, contending that ratepayers should not have to bear the city’s financial burden.
Legacy
Among the feminists of the early 20th century, Shena Simon stands out as a quiet one who understood the nuances of a woman’s life – her living conditions, her children and her livelihood. Her book, A Century of City Government, Manchester 1838-1938 emphasised the need for citizens to contribute to the community – and can still be found in libraries across England.
In 1961, she opened Simon Court, a nine-storey municipal block of flats in Wythenshawe for older people and witnessed the beginning of the long-awaited civic centre. In 1964, she was awarded the Freedom of the City of Manchester, becoming only the third woman to receive it.
Wythenshawe Hall still stands today and has been used as an art gallery and museum. It is currently open for monthly events and tours.
In 2024, researchers from the University of Manchester published The Simons of Manchester: How One Family shaped a City and a Nation, an in-depth exploration into Shena’s family and which has served as the reference and foundation for this short biography.
Shena Simon was ultimately a strong feminist and social reformer who embodied the stoicism of Manchester life. Her work epitomised the belief that married life can cohesively exist alongside civic duty and employment – a notion that has carried on well into 21st century feminist discourse.
Azmina Sohail, Volunteer of Manchester Lit & Phil