Caroline Benn

| relatives = [[Emily Benn]] (granddaughter)

| relatives = [[Emily Benn]] (granddaughter)

}}

}}

[[File:Caroline Benn blue plaque.jpg|thumb|right|Brown plaque, Holland Park Avenue, London]]

[[File:Caroline Benn blue plaque.jpg|thumb|right|Brown plaque, [[Holland Park Avenue]], London]]

'''Caroline Middleton Benn''' (née '''DeCamp'''; 13 October 1926 – 22 November 2000), formerly '''Viscountess Stansgate''', was a British educationalist and writer, and wife of [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] politician [[Tony Benn]] (formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate).

'''Caroline Middleton Benn''' (née '''DeCamp'''; 13 October 1926 – 22 November 2000), formerly '''Viscountess Stansgate''', was a British educationalist and writer, and the wife of [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] politician [[Tony Benn]] (formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate).

==Biography==

==Biography==

Benn was born Caroline Middleton DeCamp in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], the eldest daughter of Anne Hetherington (''née'' Graydon) and James Milton DeCamp, a Cincinnati lawyer.<ref name=":0">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1375544/Caroline-Benn.html "Caroline Benn. Obituary"], ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'', 24 November 2000. Retrieved 10 January 2021.</ref>

Benn was born Caroline Middleton DeCamp on 13 October 1926, in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], United States, the eldest daughter of Anne Hetherington (''née'' Graydon) and James Milton DeCamp, a Cincinnati lawyer.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2000-11-24 |title=Caroline Benn |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1375544/Caroline-Benn.html |access-date=2025-02-20 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |language=en}}</ref>

Educated at [[Vassar College]] (AB, 1946) and the [[University of Cincinnati]] (BA, 1948),<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Benn |first=Tony |title=Years of hope: diaries, letters and papers; 1940 - 1962 |last2=Benn |first2=Tony |date=1994 |publisher=Hutchinson |isbn=978-0-09-178534-5 |editor-last=Winstone |editor-first=Ruth |edition= |series=Diaries / Tony Benn |location=London |pages=128}}</ref> she travelled to the United Kingdom in 1948 to study at [[Oxford|Oxford University]] and voted for [[Henry A. Wallace|Henry Wallace]], the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive Party]] candidate in that year's [[1948 United States presidential election|American Presidential election]]. She earned an English MA on [[Jacobean era|Jacobean drama]] (specifically on the [[masques]] of [[Inigo Jones]]) at [[University College London]] in 1951.

Educated at [[Vassar College]] (AB, 1946) and the [[University of Cincinnati]] (BA, 1948),<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Benn |first=Tony |title=Years of hope: diaries, letters and papers; 1940 - 1962 |last2=Benn |first2=Tony |date=1994 |publisher=Hutchinson |isbn=978-0-09-178534-5 |editor-last=Winstone |editor-first=Ruth |edition= |series=Diaries / Tony Benn |location=London |pages=128}}</ref> she travelled to the United Kingdom in 1948 to study at [[Oxford|Oxford University]] and voted for [[Henry A. Wallace|Henry Wallace]], the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive Party]] candidate in that year's [[1948 United States presidential election|American Presidential election]]. She earned an English MA on [[Jacobean era|Jacobean drama]] (specifically on the [[masques]] of [[Inigo Jones]]) at [[University College London]] in 1951.

She met Tony Benn over tea at [[Worcester College, Oxford]], in 1948, and just nine days later he proposed to her on a park bench in the city. Later, he bought the bench from [[Oxford City Council]] and installed it in the garden of their house in [[Holland Park]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> In June 1999, on their golden [[wedding anniversary]], she put on the red striped dress she had worn that night. The couple had four children: [[Stephen Benn|Stephen]], [[Hilary Benn|Hilary]], [[Melissa Benn|Melissa]] and Joshua – and ten grandchildren.

She met Tony Benn over tea at [[Worcester College, Oxford]], in 1948, and just nine days later he proposed to her on a park bench in the city. Later, he bought the bench from [[Oxford City Council]] and installed it in the garden of their house in [[Holland Park]], London.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> In June 1999, on their golden [[wedding anniversary]], she put on the red striped dress she had worn that night. The couple had four children: [[Stephen Benn|Stephen]], [[Hilary Benn|Hilary]], [[Melissa Benn|Melissa]] and Joshua – and ten grandchildren.

She devoted her life to [[Comprehensive System|comprehensive education]] and was co-founder of the Campaign for Comprehensive Education. She sent her own children to [[Holland Park School]], one of the first [[comprehensive schools]] in the country. In 1970, she wrote alongside Professor [[Brian Simon]], ''Halfway There'' – the definitive study of the progress of comprehensive reform in the UK. This was followed up in 1997 with ''Thirty Years On'', which she co-wrote with Prof. Clyde Chitty.

She devoted her life to [[Comprehensive System|comprehensive education]] and was co-founder of the Campaign for Comprehensive Education. She sent her own children to [[Holland Park School]], one of the first [[comprehensive schools]] in the country. In 1970, she co-wrote with Professor [[Brian Simon]] the report ''Halfway There'' – the definitive study of the progress of comprehensive reform in the UK. This was followed up in 1997 with ''Thirty Years On'', which she wrote together with Professor Clyde Chitty.

As well as writing extensively about education, Benn held a number of other positions: she was a member of the [[Inner London Education Authority]] from 1970 to 1977, an ILEA Governor at [[Imperial College London]], a tutor at the [[Open University]], a lecturer at Kensington and Hammersmith Further Education College from 1970 to 1996, a governor of [[Holland Park School]] for thirty-five years (serving from 1971 to 1983 as Chair, under the headship of Derek Rushworth), and president of the [[Socialist Education Association]].

As well as writing extensively about education, Benn held a number of other positions: she was a member of the [[Inner London Education Authority]] (ILEA) from 1970 to 1977, an ILEA Governor at [[Imperial College London]], a tutor at the [[Open University]], a lecturer at Kensington and Hammersmith Further Education College from 1970 to 1996, a governor of [[Holland Park School]] for thirty-five years (serving from 1971 to 1983 as Chair, under the headship of Derek Rushworth), and president of the [[Socialist Education Association]].

Benn played a significant role in her husband's political career, earning popularity among his colleagues who respected her views, which were often more radical than Benn's.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-11-24 |title=Caroline Benn |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1375544/Caroline-Benn.html |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}</ref> She is personally credited with having suggested the title of the Labour Party manifesto for the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]]. She proposed ''The New Britain'', and it eventually became ''Let's Go With Labour for the New Britain''.

Benn played a significant role in her husband's political career, earning popularity among his colleagues who respected her views, which were often more radical than Benn's.<ref name=":0" /> She is personally credited with having suggested the title of the Labour Party manifesto for the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]]. She proposed ''The New Britain'', and it eventually became ''Let's Go With Labour for the New Britain''.

In 1964 she was secretary of the ''Who Killed Kennedy? Committee'' set up by [[Bertrand Russell]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benn |first1=Tony |title=Out Of The Wilderness Diaries 1963-67 |date=1987 |publisher=Hutchinson |page=124}}</ref>

In 1964, she was secretary of the ''Who Killed Kennedy? Committee'' set up by [[Bertrand Russell]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benn |first1=Tony |title=Out Of The Wilderness Diaries 1963-67 |date=1987 |publisher=Hutchinson |page=124}}</ref>

==Death==

==Death==

==References==

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

* Jane Martin, [https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/forum/vol-55-issue-2/article-5496/ "Caroline DeCamp Benn and the Comprehensive Education movement – the biographer's tale"], ''Forum'', Vol. 55, No. 2, 2013.

==External links==

==External links==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080721015419/http://eddie.idx.com.au/2005/84benn.html "A Tribute to Caroline Benn" (2004)], edited by Melissa Benn & Clyde Chitty

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080721015419/http://eddie.idx.com.au/2005/84benn.html "A Tribute to Caroline Benn"] (2004), edited by Melissa Benn and Clyde Chitty.

* [https://books.google.com/books?id=dtRC3Yf_XFwC&dq=%22derek+rushworth%22+holland&pg=PP1 Caroline Benn] at Google Books

* [https://books.google.com/books?id=dtRC3Yf_XFwC&dq=%22derek+rushworth%22+holland&pg=PP1 Caroline Benn] at Google Books.

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[[Category:1926 births]]

[[Category:1926 births]]

[[Category:2000 deaths]]

[[Category:2000 deaths]]

[[Category:Benn family|Caroline]]

[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]

[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]

[[Category:Academics of the Open University]]

[[Category:Academics of the Open University]]

[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]

[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]

[[Category:American emigrants to England]]

[[Category:American emigrants to England]]

[[Category:Benn family|Caroline]]

[[Category:Comprehensive education]]

[[Category:Comprehensive education]]

[[Category:Deaths from breast cancer in England]]

[[Category:Deaths from breast cancer in England]]

[[Category:English educational theorists]]

[[Category:English educational theorists]]

[[Category:People associated with Imperial College London]]

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[[Category:Writers from Cincinnati]]

[[Category:Spouses of British politicians]]

[[Category:Tony Benn]]

[[Category:University of Cincinnati alumni]]

[[Category:University of Cincinnati alumni]]

[[Category:Vassar College alumni]]

[[Category:Vassar College alumni]]

[[Category:Writers from Cincinnati]]

[[Category:British viscountesses by marriage|Stansgate]]

[[Category:British viscountesses by marriage|Stansgate]]

[[Category:Tony Benn]]

[[Category:Spouses of British politicians]]