Henrietta Adler

Henrietta Adler
Born	1 December 1868 London
Died	15 April 1950 (aged 81) London
Other names	Nettie Adler
Occupation	British politician

Henrietta Adler (1 December 1868 – 15 April 1950), known as Nettie Adler, was a Jewish Liberal Party politician who was one of the first women to be elected and to be able to take her seat on the London County Council.

Background

She was the daughter of Chief Rabbi, Dr H. Adler. She was educated at private school and classes.^[1]

Career

She began social work as a school manager under the London School Board. She was Honorary Secretary of the Committee on Wage Earning Children, 1899–1946. She was a Member of Council of the Anglo-Jewish Association.^[1]

Political career

She was a Liberal Party member and therefore in local government politics was aligned with the Progressive Party. She was first politically active in her home area of Hackney. Her main political interest was in education. She was a Member of the Governing Bodies of the Dalston County School, of the Hackney Downs School and the Hackney Technical Institute. Due to her interest in educational matters she was co-opted onto the London Education Committee by the Progressive majority in 1905, serving as a co-optee on that body until she was elected to it following the 1910 London County Council elections. When the Liberal Government first created the London County Council there was nothing to stipulate that women could not stand as candidates for election and two Progressive women candidates duly stood and were elected. However, there was a legal challenge made by one of the defeated conservative candidates and as a result, neither of the women were able to take their seats. When the Liberal Party returned to power in 1905 they set about changing the law so that women could be elected to the LCC and this change came into effect for the 1910 elections and Adler was one of two women who were elected. She was elected as a Councillor to the London County Council as one of the representatives for the constituency of Hackney Central in 1910;

Hackney Central in London

London County Council election, 1910: Hackney Central^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Progressive	Alfred James Shepheard	3,684	27.5
	Progressive	Henrietta Adler	3,521	26.2
	Municipal Reform	G J Dowse	3,157	23.5
	Municipal Reform	John Foster Vesey-FitzGerald	3,053	22.8
Majority			527	4.0
	Progressive gain from Municipal Reform		Swing
Majority			364	2.7
	Progressive gain from Municipal Reform		Swing

In March 1913 she was re-elected, although her running mate lost to the Unionist backed Municipal Reform Party;

London County Council election, 1913: Hackney Central^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Municipal Reform	William Ray	3,670	25.2
	Progressive	Henrietta Adler	3,653	25.0	-1.2
	Municipal Reform	Lord William Cecil	3,645	25.0
	Progressive	Alfred James Shepheard	3,622	24.8
Majority			8
	Progressive hold		Swing	n/a
Majority			48
	Municipal Reform gain from Progressive		Swing

In March 1919, following the end of the war, the boundaries for her constituency were slightly altered and she was returned unopposed due to an electoral understanding of both the Progressive and Municipal Reform parties to only adopt one candidate each;

Hackney Central in London

London County Council election, 1919: Hackney Central^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Progressive	Henrietta Adler	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Municipal Reform	William Ray	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Progressive hold		Swing	n/a
	Municipal Reform hold		Swing	n/a

In March 1922 the uneasy electoral arrangement between the Progressive and Municipal Reform parties continued;

Adler

London County Council election, 1922: Hackney Central^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Progressive	Henrietta Adler	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Municipal Reform	William Ray	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Progressive hold		Swing	n/a
	Municipal Reform hold		Swing	n/a

From 1922 to 1923 she served as Deputy Chairman of the London County Council. She was defeated in 1925;

London County Council election, 1925: Hackney Central^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Municipal Reform	William Ray	4,878
	Municipal Reform	Humfrey Henry Edmunds	4,595
	Labour	P H Black	3,299		n/a
	Labour	John Hunter Harley	3,183		n/a
	Progressive	Henrietta Adler	2,759
	Progressive	A Mortimer	2,436
	Municipal Reform gain from Progressive		Swing	n/a
	Municipal Reform hold		Swing	n/a

She was a Member of the Departmental Committee on Charity Collections, 1925–27. Following the demise of the Progressive Party she was re-elected to the LCC in 1928 standing as a Liberal Party candidate;

London County Council election, 1928: Hackney Central^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Municipal Reform	William Ray	5,092
	Liberal	Henrietta Adler	5,008
	Municipal Reform	Lord Cranbrook	4,960
	Liberal	G J Lusher-Pentney	4,820
	Labour	Amy Sayle	2,743
	Labour	H W Butler	2,737
	Independent Labour	S L Alexander	625		n/a
	Independent Labour	J W Head	593		n/a
	Liberal gain from Municipal Reform		Swing
	Municipal Reform hold		Swing

She was finally defeated in 1931.

London County Council election, 1931: Hackney Central^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Municipal Reform	Sir William Ray	5,468
	Municipal Reform	Montague Moustardier	5,224
	Labour	Dr Bernard Homa	3,715
	Labour	Dr Mary O'Brien-Harris	3,672
	Liberal	Henrietta Adler	2,774
	Liberal	H Baily	2,324
	Municipal Reform gain from Liberal		Swing
	Municipal Reform hold		Swing

Despite her election defeat in 1931, she was co-opted onto the London County Council Public Health Committee for a three-year term.^[1]

External links

• "Henrietta Adler". oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 25 January 2014.

References

1. "Who's Who". ukWhosWho.com. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
2. London Municipal Notes, 1913
3. London Municipal Notes – Volumes 18–23, London Municipal Society
4. The Times 6 March 1925 p16
5. The Times 9 March 1928 p11
6. The Times 6 March 1931 p16