Marie Stopes 1880-1958
Controversial pioneer in the field of birth control
Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes was a woman who had a major influence on women’s lives when she and her husband opened the first birth control clinic in Britain in 1921.
Marie was influenced by the people who were involved in her life. Her mother was a Shakespearian scholar and promoter of women’s education who fought for Women’s Rights. However she was hypercritical of her daughters. A solitary child with a strong Presbyterian upbringing Marie resented her mother’s criticism and was closer to her father. It left Marie with a need to prove herself. A result of her mother’s influence was that Marie soon accepted women’s equality – in all fields. Born in Edinburgh in 1880 she and her younger sister were initially taught by their mother at home. In 1892 Marie became a day pupil at St George’s School in Edinburgh.
Academically Marie achieved a great deal. She distinguished herself in her first year at University College London by winning the gold medal in Botany. She was also President of the Women’s Debating Society. In 1902 she graduated with a Double Honours BSc Degree in Botany (1st Class) and Geology (3rd Class). When she obtained her DSc from University College she was the youngest Doctor of Science in Britain. In 1904 she became the first woman on the academic staff at Manchester University. She travelled widely and established her reputation in her field of Paleobotany. In Munich she was the only woman among five hundred men when she undertook post graduate studies at the Botanical Institute, where she obtained a PhD.
The many written works she produced covered a wide field - including research into coal composition, poetry, plays and fiction.
Marie’s private life was also varied. In1911 she married a Canadian geneticist. She wrote to friends saying that she would retain her maiden name. The marriage was annulled in1916. In1918 she married again. Her husband, Humphrey Verdon Roe, supported her work and helped her publish Married Love. He had been interested in opening a birth control clinic; as the son of a doctor he had seen the effect of large families among the poor. However Marie never publically acknowledged his true role. As usual she was happy to take full credit .
Married Love was an extremely controversial project. She dedicated it to Young husbands and all those who are betrothed in love. She referred to her own sex- ignorance resulting in the problems in her first marriage. Contraception was only implied- she dealt with this more explicitly in Wise Parenthood.
Their first child was stillborn, but she successfully gave birth in1924. Her relationship with her son deteriorated when he married. She felt his choice was of poor genetic stock. Like many of her contemporaries she promoted Eugenics. She had sent her poetry to Hitler.
Marie died in 1958.
Janet Hopkins
Sources:
Stopes M. C. Married Love: A New Contribution to the Solution of Sex Difficulties. London: Putman 1918.
Stopes M. A Letter to Working Mothers: pamphlet published 1919.
Stopes, Marie. How Mrs Jones Does Her Worst. London Daily Mail 13 th June 1919
Rose, June. Marie Stopes and the Sexual Revolution. Faber and Faber 1992
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol 52.
Who was Who 1951-1960. A & C Black Publishers Ltd 1984
McKibblin, Ross. (introduction and notes.) Married Love (Oxford World’s Classics) by Marie Stopes. OUP 2004
Garrett, William. (edited and introduced.) Marie Stopes: Feminist, Eroticist, Evengenicist. Pub. Lulu.com 2008
Wikipedia:
