Mary Jane Bridges-Adams (néeDaltry; 19 October 1854[1] – 14 January 1939) was a Britisheducationalist,socialist, and activist. She campaigned for free,compulsory,secular education for all and forfree school meals.
She was born atMaesycwmmer,Bedwas,Monmouthshire, south Wales,[1] the daughter of a Welsh engine-fitter William Daltry and his wife Margaret Jones.[2][3] The family later moved toNewcastle-upon-Tyne and after working at schools in Newcastle, Bridges-Adams studied at theUniversity of London and in 1882 was awarded a distinction atBedford College, London, in Greek and Maths.[4] She married Walter Bridges-Adams on 22 October 1887.[2]
Bridges-Adams's early career was as a teacher in schools in Birmingham and in London, and she was also the headmistress of a board school (a type of freeelementary school established by theElementary Education Act 1870).[3] In 1894 she stood for election to theLondon School Board, representing theGreenwich division, supported by theRoyal Arsenal Co-operative Society, trade unions (theGas Workers' Union, theAmalgamated Society of Engineers) and the London Nonconformist Council.[2] She failed to be elected, but was successful three years later, and was re-elected in 1900 as the soleIndependent Labour Party candidate, with an increased majority,[2] remaining a member of the board until its abolition.[4][3] Theschool boards were then one of the few elected bodies of the United Kingdom on which women could serve.[5]
In 1900, she was involved in the opening of aFröbel-influenced free "kindergarten" inWoolwich, London; this was the first such educational establishment in England.[3] With the closing of the school boards, she became secretary toDaisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, and with her continued campaigning.[3] In 1905, the two led a motor tour of the country to promote the concept of free school meals.[3] Bridges-Adams founded the first 'Open Air School for Recovery' (which aimed to show the "therapeutic effects of open air and regular meals on debilitated children") inBostall Woods, London in 1907 and another onShooter's Hill, London, the following year.[3]
She supported adult education for workers through thePlebs League and theCentral Labour College, and founded theWorking Women's Movement.[4] Outside of her education-related campaigning, Bridges-Adams was also involved in other causes. She fought for improved living conditions of working class women: as a member of her localWoolwichWomen's Co-operative Guild, she campaigned for improved housing and sanitation, and for the building of cultural facilities such as a picture gallery and a free library.[3] In 1917, alongsideJoseph King (a Member of Parliament) andLord Edward Stanley (a peer and former member of the London School Board), she campaigned for the continuation of theright of asylum for refugees from theRussian Empire.[3]
On 22 October 1887, Mary Daltry married Walter Bridges Adams, the son ofWilliam Bridges Adams. Together they had one son,William Bridges-Adams (1889–1965). Her husband predeceased her, dying in 1902.[3]
Her husband's family paid for her son to attendBedales School, a progressiveprivate school. Though this may have conflicted with her own views about education, sending her son to a fee-payingboarding school was likely the only way she could have continued her activism as a single-parent.[5]
