MARY NEAL

'Mary Neal' CBE (5 June 1860–22 June 1944), born 'Clara Sophia Neal', was an English social worker and collector of English folk dances.
She was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham to a prosperous family, but in 1888 began voluntary social work among the poor of Soho and Marylebone in London, adopting the name "Mary". She began a girls' club – the Espérance Club – and seeing how much the girls enjoyed folk dances inspired her to begin collecting them. Her services to the preservation of these dances rather belatedly led to her being created Commander of the British Empire in 1937.
Mary Neal was also a prominent socialist and suffragette.

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External links

External links

★ So who was Mary Neal anyway? – article by Janet Dowling

★ emmeline pethick, mary neal and the development of work with young women

★ article on Mary Neal and morris dancing in America