BONDFIELD, MARGARET (GRACE)

born March 17, 1873, Chard, Somerset, Eng. died June 16, 1953, Sanderstead, Surrey trade-union leader and the first woman to attain Cabinet rank in Great Britain. Bondfield had little schooling. Starting as a draper's assistant at 14, she found conditions miserable and joined the National Union of Shop Assistants at its formation. In 1899 she was the only woman delegate to the Trades Union Congress, and she became its first woman chairman in 1923. In 1923 she also was elected a Labour Party member of the House of Commons. Reelected in 1929, she became minister of labour in Ramsey MacDonald's second administration but was defeated in the 1931 election. She retired from trade-union work in 1938. She was appointed a companion of honour in 1948, and her autobiography, A Life's Work, was published in 1949.