Margaret Postgate Cole

Margaret postgate was born in the North of England in 1893. Her father, John Percival Postgate, was Professor of Latin at the University of Liverpool. After school at Roedean, an all-girls school in the South of England, Margaret went on to study at Girton College, Cambridge.
Although born and raisd in an Anglican family Margaret began to question her religious faith whilst at University. her wide reading included the likes of G. B. Shaw, H. G. Wells, J. A. Hobson and under their influence she became a socialist, a feminist and an atheist and a member of the Fabian Society.
Her brother shared some of her interests and was imprisoned during the first World war as a conscientious objector. Whilst campaigning for peace and working against conscription she met and married G. D. H. Cole [1918].
They were co-workers in the fabian research Department. They subsequently moved to Oxford where Margaret worked part time for the Labour Research department and taught part time at evening classes.

Following the colapse of the socialist movement in Germany and Austria during the 1930s she gave up her pacifist beliefs and was in favour of Britain's Role in World war Two.

By this time she had moved to london and been elected a labour councillor on the London County Council and was activly involved in the early attempts at comprehensive education in Britain.

As well as editing the diaries of Beatrice Webb, she also wrote several books including The Road to Success (1936), Women of Today (1938), Marriage, Past and Present (1938), Growing Up into Revolution (1949), The Story of Fabian Socialism (1961) and G. D. H. Cole (1971).

Margaret Postgate Cole died in 1980.