Louie Emmeline Ould (C.1907-1991): Politics, protest and class

   The 1900’s saw many important political changes and acts introduced such as the reign of the only female Prime Minister to date Margaret Thatcher. Although not explicitally expressed in Louie’s memoir the reign of this controversial woman would have had some  impact on Louie’s life coming from a lower class family. Many acts were enforced in the 1900’s such as the education act in 1944 and free NHS services in 1946. The education act would not have affected Louie’s school life as she was a student much earlier from 1911.

        I think that the lack of discussion of politics in the memoir suggets that she was not as affected as other families such as mining families however, as I am assuming Louie wrote her memoir later on in life (approx 69) and for her loved ones she may have omitted negative memories or just didn’t want them to influence her introspective memoir.

        Louie’s memoir does not hold a place for politics or protest. Instead, it is an introspective memoir that focuses on story telling of her life. Overall, I think politics has become more inclusive as time has gone on in some regards such as women being given the vote and therefore being more knowledgeable in the subject of politics.

        As mentioned in earlier posts, Louie’s father was a farmer suggesting that she was from a lower class family with low income she was also from a Country rather than a large city which may be affected more by the likes of protest and politics.