Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading
The Marchioness of Reading | |
|---|---|
Lady Reading (left), c. 1935 | |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 22 September 1958 – 22 May 1971 Life Peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Grace Stella Charnaud 6 January 1894 |
| Died | 22 May 1971 (aged 77) |
| Spouse | |
Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, Baroness Swanborough, GBE (née Charnaud; 6 January 1894 – 22 May 1971) was an English philanthropist who is best remembered as the founder and chairman of the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS), now known as Royal Voluntary Service.
Lady Reading championed promoting Anglo-American relations, not only as the wife of a former British Ambassador to the U.S., but also in her peacetime role helping to rebuild the British economy and find stimulating employment for women – both voluntary and paid. In addition to the WVS, she also established the company Women's Home Industries, a highly successful exponent of British craft and cultural traditions in clothing and textiles, but also an extensive exporter to the United States, Canada, and sometimes France.
She served on boards of various cultural bodies, including the BBC Advisory Board and Glyndebourne, and was a keen early supporter of the University of Sussex. In 1958, she became the first woman to take a seat in the House of Lords in her own right. A 1963 profile in The Observer said: "the W.V.S. has brought out in her the latent political talent and the strength of character that once induced someone to say of her that had she been a man she would have become Prime Minister".