Early life Peggy Cripps

1 life

1.1 childhood
1.2 family
1.3 education
1.4 off study
1.5 engagement

early life

enid margaret cripps born in goodfellows, gloucestershire, across county border home of parents, stafford cripps , isobel (née) swithinbank, in village of filkins, oxfordshire, youngest of 4 children.

the family had moved goodfellows, home in filkins peggy grew up; cotswold-style manor house, decoration , development owed influence of sir lawrence weaver, architect, was, wife kathleen, 1 of cripps closest friends. lady weaver died in 1927 of pneumonia. when sir lawrence died in 1930, 2 sons, purcell , toby, were, in effect, adopted crippses. in later life, peggy regarded them brothers.

childhood

growing in country, in care of mother , beloved nanny, elsie lawrence, , companionship of sister theresa, spent of childhood exploring english countryside, collecting wild flowers , fruits , mushrooms grew in hedgerows , meadows of 500 acres (2.0 km) of father s farm , surrounding woods , fields. members of british wildflower society, , sister learned how identify plants , got know common , latin names of many of them. transfer interest in later years flora of ghana. love of countryside united family. brother, sir john cripps, not farmed @ filkins, edited countryman , later european countryside commissioner.

family

on father s side, family had long lived in gloucestershire: solidly upper-middle-class family. paternal grandfather, lord parmoor, lawyer had been ennobled in 1914, when became member of judicial committee of privy council. paternal great-great-grandfather, joseph cripps, had been mp cirencester. lord parmoor had represented stroud in house of commons.

the political connections of maternal side impressive. 2 of maternal grandmother s sisters married mps charles edward henry hobhouse , leonard henry courtney, baron courtney. great-aunt, beatrice, married sidney webb, served grandfather lord parmoor in first labour government, in 1924, , secretary of state colonies in second labour government in 1929, served in cabinet lord parmoor, lord president of council, , joined later stafford, solicitor general. (it @ time father knighted.). through ancestor admiral george winthrop descendant winthrop family of new england in british north america.

the cripps family devout anglicans. lord parmoor ecclesiastical lawyer, member—and in 1911 chairman—of house of laymen in province of canterbury, vicar general of various english provinces, , author of cripps on church , clergy. stafford cripps said have been first layman preach in st paul s cathedral. when peggy cripps preparing confirmation, told parents had doubts of 39 articles of faith of church of england, , father arranged discuss them friend, william temple, archbishop of york (later archbishop of canterbury). peggy used enjoy telling people had gone through 39 articles, each time had expressed doubt, archbishop had said, yes, find 1 difficult, too!

education

she had conventional education young woman of class , time. educated first @ day school @ queen s college, harley street, , later @ maltman s green, boarding school in buckinghamshire, , group of friends attended quaker meeting house. through parents connections, began learn of world outside england. in 1938 , family spent several months in jamaica, , in same year jawaharlal nehru, whom stafford had begun extensive correspondence result of interest in development of democracy in british colonies, visited goodfellows daughter indira.

off study

after finishing school, applied edinburgh university, first went off italy study history of art in florence. second world war looming , had return hurriedly england florence. declined place @ edinburgh university, enrolling instead @ whitehall secretarial college, had been evacuated dorset onset of bombing in london, start work immediately.

once had completed training, able set off join father in moscow, british ambassador , able useful secretary in embassy. because direct route moscow have required travelling through german-occupied europe, , mother , sister theresa, travelled russia way of canada, crossing continent on canadian pacific railway , passing through japan , china , crossing soviet union rail.

in moscow, peggy did secretarial work father , became friends daughters of yugoslav , chinese ambassadors, , daughter of iranian diplomat, remain lifelong friend. in 1941, @ age of 20, parents in london, , sister in iran, left in charge of evacuation of british embassy, german invasion of russia looming. since officially secretary in foreign service, found herself working mr. cook in consular department in teheran. later on, when british army took on iranian railway system, worked secretary brigadier in charge.

in 1942, returned england, accompanying father, returning visit india. travelled through middle east on seaplane, landing on lake galilee in israel , nile in egypt, able see pyramids of egypt. first visit african continent. rest of war worked in ministry of information, first in indian division , in soviet relations division, able use knowledge of russian language in work. father committed himself full-time politics, , reduced income came loss of legal practice, family left goodfellows , moved smaller house @ frith hill, gloucestershire, although brother john took on running of farm @ filkins.

at end of war, peggy had nervous breakdown. had given place @ university useful during war; found herself experienced unqualified job doing. sent switzerland recover @ maximilian bircher-benner clinic in zurich, spent summer in lugano studying painting, , returned london take study of art full-time @ anglo-french art centre in st john s wood, north london. took painting in small studio in apartment of artist feliks topolski , attended life-classes @ hammersmith art school, under tutelage of carel weight.

throughout period in close , regular touch parents, though father increasingly busy political work. labour party victory in 1945 election @ end of war, stafford had entered cabinet president of board of trade, spent of time working on negotiations leaders of indian independence, including gandhi, nehru , jinnah. in november 1947, became chancellor of exchequer , of rest of life helped manage beginnings of post-war recovery of britain , creation of modern welfare state.

in 1942, mother had agreed lead campaign raise money aid people of china, facing great suffering result of japanese invasion, floods, disease , famine. 6 years later, chinese government invited lady cripps visit country see being done money , express gratitude work of british united aid china. peggy went along 1 of mother s travelling companions. since money meant used chinese, both stayed general , madame chiang kai-shek. visited communist liberated areas in yenan, peggy met chou en lai , madame mao. on way china, , mother travelled through burma , india.

engagement

as result of experiences in jamaica, russia, iran, china, burma , india, , family s friendship people such nehrus, peggy, in mid-twenties, knew many people many countries , knew more life outside england, indeed outside europe, of contemporaries. experience, along deep christian commitments, led work co-operation among peoples; , in late 1940s started work organisation called racial unity, had been started miss attlee, sister of prime minister, becoming active in youth department of world council of churches (wcc). through work racial unity, of secretary in 1952, first met joseph emmanuel appiah, president of west african students union. friendship grew fast , in january 1952, proposed , accepted.

at time, however, stafford cripps extremely ill. in may 1951 had been taken maximilian bircher-benner clinic in zurich (where peggy had recovered many years before) , thought enough return home family home @ frith hill. in january 1952 flown zurich, died 4 months later. result of illness, isobel decided best if engagement should kept secret. then, once died, custom required engagement not announced year. in meanwhile, peggy s mother suggested should visit gold coast on own, travelling out steamship see country of intended husband.