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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Nancy Astor
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(Nancy Langhorne, 1879–1964, m. Waldorf Astor 1906) American by birth, she became the first woman to sit in the House of Commons, as Unionist MP for Plymouth (1919–45). The seat had previously been held by her husband, and she won it in the by-election caused by his succeeding his father as the 2nd viscount Astor. She was not the first woman to be elected to the British parliament. Legislation in 1918 had made it possible, and in that year an Irish republican, Countess Markiewicz, was elected for a Dublin constituency but refused on principle to take her seat.
Nancy Astor was a famous political hostess in the 1930s, entertaining at *Cliveden the prime minister, Neville *Chamberlain, and others who believed in the policy of *appeasement.
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