Daisy Cowper (1890 – 1985): Politics, Protest & Class

Like WWI and WWII, politics are something which are almost totally omitted from Daisy’s work. At best it can be picked up on in her attendance at the Band of Hope meetings during her childhood, but as her autobiography was written so as to mostly cover her childhood and no later elaboration made, it cannot be assumed she carried her temperance views on into adult life. She makes no explicit reference to suggest she personally supports any particular political views or group, but does imply that brother Herbert was involved in politics, stating that after being berated for his sermon at church – due to being so young and other, older speakers missing out on their opportunity to speak – he goes on to ‘[turn] his attention thereafter to social problems, and shortly afterwards a local paper commented on the enthusiastic young Liberal who addressed the passers-by, each lunch-hour, from a cart at the foot of the Wellington Monument – his theme, always, the Taxation of Land Values.’ He even goes on to become a Liberal member for Grimsby, and a member of the Liverpool Parliamentary Debating Society. Daisy does take an interest in her brother’s interest in politics at least, remembering how ‘I was very proud of him when I went to the Picture Lecture Hall to hear him address the House, and furious with those who opposed him and belittled his arguments.’

Given that her memoir is written for  and to her family, it is not likely that Daisy would have seen her political leanings, if any, to have been of interest to her family.

 

Cowper, Daisy, (1890 – 1985), ‘De Nobis’, Burnett Archive of Working Class Autobiography, University of Brunel Library, Special Collection, 1:182

Image from: ‘Wikipedia.org.’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Liverpool_Townhall_(7684898060).jpg 20 July 2012. Web. Accessed 6 January 2014.