Louisa Thomson-Price
Louisa Thomson-Price | |
---|---|
![]() from "The Vote" in 1926 | |
Born | Louisa Catherine Sowdon 18 April 1864 |
Died | 14 June 1926 (aged 62) |
Nationality | British |
Other names | Louisa Catherine Samson |
Known for | Cartoons and directing a company |
Louisa Catherine Thomson-Price born Louisa Catherine Sowdon became Louisa Catherine Samson (1864–1926) was a British suffragist, cartoonist and businessperson. She drew cartoons for the Women's Freedom League and she was elected to be a director of the Slaters' Restaurant chain and the Smithfield and Argentine Meat Company.
Life
Thomson-Price was born in 1864. Her parents were Captain William Henry Sowdon and Matilda Louisa (born Hutton) who had married on the island of Jersey. Her father was well-off, he was conservative and a Conservative and he served in the 2nd Life Guards. She had a brother and a sister. She was born with, and suffered from increasing, curvature of the spine.[1] Her foul-mouthed father preferred alcohol and would sometimes not return home for a week.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Louisa_Thomson-Price%2C_The_Vote_%2822nd_January%2C_1910%29.webp/220px-Louisa_Thomson-Price%2C_The_Vote_%2822nd_January%2C_1910%29.webp.png)
In 1886, she showed her skills at drawing and writing when she published, Comic sketches and sober thoughts for the "merry and wise".[2] In 1888 she was showing that she had not inherited her father's conservative views. She was a member of the National Secular Society and she married a member of the society's executive named John Sansom.[1] Her new husband was the editor of the South American Journal.[3]
In 1909, "The Vote" which was the magazine of the Women's Freedom League published its first cartoon and it was by Thomson-Price who assisted with editing the magazine.[4] She wrote in "The Vote", for instance, she argued against an anti-suffragist idea that equal rights would mean the end of chivalry. "True Chivalry" would mean men taking women as equal partners and not as playthings or toys.[5] created a dozen cartoons of Anti-Suffragist Types and they became a series and they were later sold as postcards. The Thomson-Price family sent out a postcards that Xmas with the expectation that votes for women might come in 1910.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Slaters%27_Restaurant_Piccadilly_Afternoon.png/220px-Slaters%27_Restaurant_Piccadilly_Afternoon.png)
She became a successful businessperson. She was elected to the board of the company that ran the sixty Slaters' Restaurants. She became the deputy chairman and the restaurants that had a clientele of women was transformed. The style and fortunes of the company were improved creating a handsome profit by 1916.[1]
She would attend share holders meetings. At one meeting in 1922 her enquiry as to why the Smithfield and Argentine Meat Company had not paid a dividend that year resulted in her leading a four month long enquiry. At the end of the enquiry she was asked to join the board of the company.[1]
Her mobility became an increased problem but she was determined to deal with her business. She died on 14 June 1926.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Louisa Thomson-Price". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
- ^ Sowdon, Louisa (1886). Comic sketches and sober thoughts for the 'merry and wise'. W.H. Beer & Company.
- ^ a b B, Lizzie (2020-12-09). "Louisa Thomson-Price (1864-1926)". Women Who Meant Business. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
- ^ "louisa thomson price". Woman and her Sphere. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
- ^ Brophy, Julia; Smart, Carol (2022-11-30). Women-in-Law: Explorations in Law, Family, and Sexuality. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-73792-9.