Henrietta Adler

Adler was born in London on 1 December 1868. She was the daughter of Hermann Adler, who would later succeed his father as chief rabbi, and Rachel Adler. She was educated at a private school and classes.^[1]

Adler 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 and a member of the Jewish Board of Guardians.^[1] She was a justice of the peace.^[2]

Adler was a Liberal Party member, which in London local government 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 on that body until she was elected to it following the 1910 London County Council election. When the Liberal government first created the London County Council in 1899 there was no stipulation that women could not stand as candidates for election and two Progressive women candidates 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, they changed the law in 1908 to allow women to be elected to the London County Council and this change came into effect for the 1910 elections. Adler was one of two women who were elected, as one of the representatives for the constituency of Hackney Central in 1910.

 

London County Council election, 1910: Hackney Central^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive	Y Alfred James Shepheard	3,684	27.5
	Progressive	Y 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 Municipal Reform Party;

London County Council election, 1913: Hackney Central^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Municipal Reform	Y William Ray	3,670	25.2
	Progressive	Y 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 agreement of the Progressive and Municipal Reform parties to only adopt one candidate each;

 

London County Council election, 1919: Hackney Central^[4]

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

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

 

London County Council election, 1922: Hackney Central^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive	Y Henrietta Adler	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Municipal Reform	Y 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 chair of the London County Council. She was defeated in 1925.

London County Council election, 1925: Hackney Central^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Municipal Reform	Y William Ray	4,878
	Municipal Reform	Y 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^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Municipal Reform	Y William Ray	5,092
	Liberal	Y 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^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Municipal Reform	Y Sir William Ray	5,468
	Municipal Reform	Y 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]

• "Henrietta Adler". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57022. Retrieved 25 January 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)