Hilda Selwyn-Clarke
Hilda Alice Selwyn-Clarke (1899 – 1967) was a British socialist activist.
Born in Horsham as Hilda Alice Browning, she was educated on a scholarship at a local grammar school, then studied teaching at Goldsmith's College.[1]
Browning became active in the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and stood for it in Clapham at the 1931 general election. In 1934, she stood for the local council against Bertram Mills, using the slogan "Bread not Circuses".[1] In 1934, she wrote a pamphlet, "Women under fascism and communism", with Dora Fabian.[2]
Browning worked as an assistant to Fenner Brockway, then for the Society for Cultural Relations with the Soviet Union. Though this, she met Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke, and the two married in 1935. She went to live with her husband on a posting in Ghana, then from 1937 in Hong Kong, and brought up their daughter, Mary, who was born in 1936. In Hong Kong, she chaired the local Eugenics League, which promoted the availability of birth control for working class women, and was honorary secretary of the China Defence League, which raised funds for China in its war against Japan.[1]
During World War II, Hilda worked at the War Memorial Hospital. Although her husband initially continued in his role under Japanese occupation, he was soon interned and tortured, while she and Mary were sent to the Stanley Internment Camp. In December 1944, the family was reunited at another camp. Following the war, she moved with her husband to the Seychelles, before returning to the UK in 1951.[1]
Back in England, Hilda was elected to London County Council in 1952 as a Labour Party councillor in Fulham East, continuing as councillor for Fulham when the seats were redistributed, until she stood down in 1965 due to poor health. She was also prominent in the Fabian Society, chairing its Colonial Bureau and working with the China Campaign Committee.[1]