‘Red Duchess’ was
Perthshire aristocrat sent shockwaves through parliament with high principles
Katherine “Kitty” Murray, the Duchess of Atholl. Born 6 November 1874. Died 21 October 1960.
She was the Perthshire aristocrat who became Scotland’s first female MP and shook up parliament with her high principles and disregard for old school tribal politics.
Katherine “Kitty” Murray, the Duchess of Atholl, joined the House of Commons in 1923 after winning the seat of Kinross and West Perthshire for the Conservatives.
Thought of as honest, incisive and serious, Atholl was to embark on a political journey that left her frequently at odds with her own party given her views on the Spanish Civil War and her opposition to the policy of appeasement against Nazi Germany. Her career was also to be defined by humanitarian work, particularly during the military revolt against the Republican government in Spain.
Despite her dislike of the “Communist menace”, she was herself to become known as the Red Duchess by those superstitious of her support for both the families of those fighting in the International Brigades and victims of the conflict. The MP’S interests were widespread and she was to become one of the first campaigners against female circumcision in Africa.
The Duchess, who was also an accomplished pianist and composer, proved to be a heavy weight and fearless operator – but her profile today remains relatively obscure.
According to author Sheila Hetherington, Atholl had been encouraged to enter frontline politics by a number of high-profile figures but faced reservations from King George V who was concerned about her ability to host her husband’s guests at Blair Castle should she win her seat.
By the time she had taken her seat in Westminster, the Duchess had already reported on the dire state of health provision in the Highlands and Islands as part of the influential Dewar Committee, whose findings became the blueprint for the NHS in Scotland. Despite her interest in women’s and children’s issues, though,she was a lone wolf among her female peers on one particular subject – votes for women.
In 1924, she was the only female MP to oppose women’s suffrage at 21, arguing there was no widespread desire for the bill and that the suffragette movement had become too militant. Amid a policy of appeasement against Hitler, the Duchess argued intensely that action was required after reading Mein Kampf in German. She later distributed accurate English translations in order to raise awareness of its true contents.
Murray, who wrotes several books, largely stepped away from the fray of public and political life followingherdefeat. Followingthe death of her husband in 1942, she became Honorary Colonel of the Scottish Horse Regiment and also served as President of the Perthshire Branch of the Red Cross Society and Chairman of the British League for European Freedom. She died in Edinburgh in 1960, aged 85, after falling from a wall.