1. The Virginian
The fascinating life of the first woman to take a seat in the British Parliament in 1919. Read by Anna Maxwell Martin.
Nancy Astor was the first woman to take a seat in the British Parliament.
Born in 1879, hers was a fascinating life: from straitened beginnings in the Civil War-ravaged Deep South of America, to marriage into one of the world's richest families.
A straight-talking campaign conducted door-to-door in one of the most deprived areas of Plymouth, brought her a political career lasting over two decades from 1919 to 1945.
Far from being a hardened campaigner who had suffered for the cause of female suffrage, she was already near the centre of ruling society, having married one of the richest men in the world.
She was not even British, yet she became a trailblazer and beacon for the generations of women who would follow her into Parliament.
Adrian Fort's biography abridged in five parts by Alison Joseph.
Read by Anna Maxwell Martin.
Producer: Kirsteen Cameron.
First broadcast on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 in October 2012.
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Broadcasts
- Mon 15 Oct 2012 09:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
- Tue 16 Oct 2012 00:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
- Mon 2 Oct 2017 14:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra
- Tue 3 Oct 2017 02:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra
- Mon 25 Nov 2019 14:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra
- Tue 26 Nov 2019 02:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra
- Mon 29 Apr 2024 08:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra
- Mon 29 Apr 2024 13:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra
- Mon 29 Apr 2024 19:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra
- Tue 30 Apr 2024 03:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra