423:
secretary, canvassing scientists and administrators to help with logistics and plan the scope of the project, while completing coordination of all the preparatory research. Of the planned 22 chapters, many were from anthropologists and other specialists, as by 1936 Hailey's health was failing and his correspondence with
Matheson showed he did not feel he could complete the task. Hailey's health broke down completely in 1937. While he was in hospital,
254:. The agreement with newspaper owners banning the BBC from editing bulletins and reading only prepared copy after 6 pm would not be lifted until 1928. Matheson became the first Director of Talks in 1927 and established the first news section, when the organisation became incorporated. An unlikely candidate for the post, as a woman and a left-leaning liberal, Matheson supported the
455:, the Australian poet. Returning to England in 1939, Matheson started as Director of the Joint Broadcasting Committee to counter German propaganda with pro-British themes. The goal was to broadcast British opinion on foreign stations in neutral European and Latin American countries, using German and Italian. The staff of 30 included
278:
appropriate means of communication for the new medium of radio and developed models to create a more personal experience for the listener. She sought to make presentations which were informal and conversational, rather than formal and oratorical. To counter Reith's suspicion that
Britain's cultural elite would reject Matheson's
422:
Though Hailey agreed to the project in May 1933, he could not begin before completing a prior commitment. Initially, he thought he would start in
September 1934, but he actually did so almost a year later. Meanwhile Matheson went ahead and served more as executive manager to the endeavour than as his
277:
In 1928, when the ban on broadcasting its own news was overturned, the BBC began reporting rather than simply reading bulletins. Matheson developed standards for factual reporting of social commentary, current affairs, politics and news. She recognised that neither lectures, speeches nor theatre were
174:
for four years. Matheson wanted to continue studying history at
Cambridge, but left school at 18, when her father's health forced the family to move to Europe. Life in France, Germany and Italy gained her fluency in all three languages. The family returned to England in 1908, when her father became
1199:
474:: 140 volumes were published after her death to counter publications glorifying Germany and present images of British notables, landscapes and cities. A few weeks before her death, Matheson contacted Astor about seeking an American publisher for the series.
33:
222:. Astor, having previously turned Matheson down, appointed her as her political secretary in 1919, which gained her a wide circle of political, intellectual and social acquaintances. While there in 1926, Matheson met
493:. A biography by Michael Carney was self-published in 1999, and a revised edition by Carney with BBC producer Kate Murphy explores her life through the Astor papers and through her letters to Vita Sackville-West.
137:
and its first
Director of Talks. After resigning from the BBC in 1931, she published a book on the development of broadcasting. Though officially the secretary, Matheson served as an executive manager for the
359:, was an irritant to many of the BBC's right-leaning listeners. Reith imposed censorship on programming, which Matheson refused to accept, and she tendered her resignation in 1931.
1328:
389:, which captured the innovative technology of radio and the march of technology, and was still being cited in the 1990s. She also wrote a weekly column for the
373:, which was owned at the time by the Astor family. About the same time, she ended her relationship with Sackville-West and began a long-term one with the poet
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335:, Reith began to take issue with Matheson's left-leaning views. Their dispute came to a head when Reith, who despised modern literature, refused to allow
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to finance research into
British colonial policy in Africa and into the extent to which indigenous Africans should be involved in policy-making.
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to give presentations. In addition to her drive to give listeners critical analysis of literary and cultural works, Matheson began a
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328:. She also organised the first live broadcast of a political debate by the three leaders of the main British political parties.
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431:. The report, containing nearly 2000 pages of data, appeared in November 1938. Matheson was awarded in the following year an
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1068:"What can the origins of the BBC tell us about its future?—Part 2: The BBC: there to inform, educate, provoke and enrage?"
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By 1930, Matheson and Reith were increasingly estranged. As the political climate of the time brought fear and
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Africa as a Living
Laboratory: Empire, Development, and the Problem of Scientific Knowledge, 1870–1950
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166:, to Scottish parents, Margaret (née Orr) and Donald Matheson. She was a boarding student at
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270:. About the same time as she began working for the BBC, Matheson began an affair with
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133:(7 June 1888 – 30 October 1940) was a pioneering English radio talks producer at the
218:(later Lord Lothian), who introduced her to Britain's first female parliamentarian,
1236:, ; by Michael Carney and Kate Murphy, United Kingdom : Handheld Press, 2023,
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470:
Matheson also initiated a publishing endeavour with
Wellesley, which Turner called
428:
369:
299:
147:
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989:
Cell, John W. (October 1989). "Lord Hailey and the Making of the
African Survey".
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367:
In
January, 1932, Matheson left the BBC and began working as the radio critic at
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448:
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295:
203:
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Public Issue Radio: Talks, News and Current Affairs in the Twentieth Century
385:. In 1933, H. A. L. Fisher commissioned Matheson to write a book she called
259:
243:
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32:
395:. Shortly after her book was published, Matheson was hired as secretary to
183:. After completing school in 1911, she worked as a part-time secretary for
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and instead of writing its own copy, its news bulletins were supplied by
242:, who was the head of the Education Department of the BBC. At that time,
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After finishing the survey, Matheson and Wellesley took a trip to the
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53:
150:, she ran the British Joint Broadcasting Committee until her death.
377:, moving to Penns in the Rocks, a farm on the Wellesley estate in
214:, at the British military control office, then briefly worked for
211:
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797:
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Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE)
227:
207:
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undergraduates. Matheson enrolled as a history student in the
134:
129:
1105:(online ed.). London, England: Oxford University Press.
889:
Radio Modernism: Literature, Ethics, and the BBC, 1922–1938
355:
and had supported the Welsh miners in the aftermath of the
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operative in army intelligence. She ended her war work in
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approach, she invited Britain's intellectuals, including
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1234:
Hilda Matheson : a life of secrets and broadcasts
934:. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 124–127.
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surgery performed at Kettlewell Hill Nursing Home in
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1183:. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
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951:Stoker: The Life of Hilda Matheson, OBE, 1888-1940
1209:. No. 48192. London, England. 2 January 1939
971:Hilda Matheson: A Life of Secrets and Broadcasts
913:. New York, New York: Oxford University Press.
892:. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
910:The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics
803:
704:
8:
869:
907:Bashford, Alison; Levine, Philippa (2010).
403:. Lord Lothian, who at the time was at the
351:on air. Nicolson, who was aligned with the
435:for her effort in concluding the project.
158:Hilda Matheson was born on 7 June 1888 in
31:
20:
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316:programme to provide education by female
1003:for the Royal African Society: 481–505.
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405:Royal Institute of International Affairs
375:Dorothy Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington
238:Initially, Matheson was hired to assist
1102:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
1030:. London, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
578:
506:
339:, Sackville-West's husband, to analyse
1154:Sackville-West, V (22 November 1940).
968:Carney, Michael; Murphy, Kate (2023).
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451:and his wife George, and a newly met
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1066:Higgins, Charlotte (15 April 2014).
1009:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a098213
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1329:Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford
1136:Women and Radio: Airing Differences
1309:20th-century English women writers
1263:National Portrait Gallery (London)
427:stepped in to edit and revise the
108:First Director of Talks at the BBC
16:English radio producer (1888–1940)
14:
1076:. London, England. Archived from
413:International Missionary Council
477:She died on 30 October 1940 of
181:Society of Oxford Home Students
1139:. London, England: Routledge.
1051:. London, England: Routledge.
1048:International Radio Journalism
1:
1294:British women radio producers
1096:"Matheson, Hilda (1888–1940)"
953:. Llangynog: Michael Carney.
447:, where they joined friends:
1314:20th-century English writers
1126:UK public library membership
1133:Mitchell, Caroline (2014).
1345:
931:The Golden Age of Wireless
705:Bashford & Levine 2010
175:Presbyterian chaplain for
1093:Hunter, Fred (May 2012).
266:, in addition to being a
30:
974:. Bath: Handheld Press.
949:Carney, Michael (1999).
870:Carney & Murphy 2023
226:, head of the fledgling
206:, Matheson worked as an
1324:British radio producers
1304:English lesbian writers
1024:Chignell, Hugh (2011).
1001:Oxford University Press
342:Lady Chatterley’s Lover
1177:Tilley, Helen (2011).
1111:10.1093/ref:odnb/49198
439:Later career and death
320:about the workings of
1254:Worldcat publications
230:, who recruited her.
1319:People from Withyham
928:Briggs, Asa (1965).
886:Avery, Todd (2006).
234:BBC and estrangement
195:, the keeper of the
193:David George Hogarth
148:the Second World War
804:Sackville-West 1940
791:, pp. 500–501.
779:, pp. 498–499.
755:, pp. 104–105.
593:, pp. 124–127.
472:Britain in Pictures
411:, secretary of the
313:Week in Westminster
304:Vita Sackville-West
292:George Bernard Shaw
288:John Maynard Keynes
272:Vita Sackville-West
258:, sympathised with
246:'s role was one of
204:the First World War
189:New College, Oxford
92:radio administrator
1289:People from Putney
1200:"New Year Honours"
326:enfranchised women
168:Saint Felix School
118:The African Survey
1242:978-1-912766-72-7
1190:978-0-226-80348-7
1164:. London, England
1146:978-1-136-35480-9
1124:(Subscription or
1058:978-1-134-86300-6
1037:978-0-230-24739-0
981:978-1-91-276672-7
960:978-0-95-363910-6
941:978-0-19-212930-7
920:978-0-19-970653-2
899:978-0-7546-5517-6
659:, pp. 44–45.
256:League of Nations
177:Oxford University
146:fell ill. During
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97:Years active
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1156:"Hilda Matheson"
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1080:on 15 April 2014
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425:Frederick Pedler
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220:Lady Nancy Astor
197:Ashmolean Museum
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479:Graves' disease
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392:Week-end Review
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337:Harold Nicolson
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185:H. A. L. Fisher
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1248:External links
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401:African Survey
397:Malcolm Hailey
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357:General Strike
308:Virginia Woolf
264:women's rights
262:and supported
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191:and later for
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144:Malcolm Hailey
140:African Survey
125:Hilda Matheson
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409:Joseph Oldham
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363:Middle career
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284:E. M. Forster
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1217:– via
1211:. Retrieved
1204:
1179:
1166:. Retrieved
1159:
1135:
1114:. Retrieved
1100:
1082:. Retrieved
1078:the original
1073:The Guardian
1071:
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579:Higgins 2014
476:
471:
469:
467:and Turner.
442:
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390:
387:Broadcasting
386:
370:The Observer
368:
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353:Labour Party
346:
340:
330:
311:
300:Rebecca West
280:Americanised
279:
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247:
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201:
157:
128:
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114:Notable work
67:(1940-10-30)
18:
1284:1940 deaths
1279:1888 births
858:Carney 1999
816:Tilley 2011
765:Tilley 2011
753:Tilley 2011
591:Briggs 1965
535:Hunter 2012
461:Guy Burgess
449:W. B. Yeats
383:East Sussex
296:H. G. Wells
216:Philip Kerr
81:Nationality
50:7 June 1888
1273:Categories
1219:Gale Group
1128:required.)
693:Avery 2006
681:Crook 2002
633:Avery 2006
497:References
457:Isa Benzie
322:Parliament
224:John Reith
154:Early life
89:Occupation
46:1888-06-07
1206:The Times
844:The Times
789:Cell 1989
777:Cell 1989
741:Cell 1989
729:Cell 1989
717:Cell 1989
502:Citations
324:to newly
260:socialism
244:BBC Radio
172:Southwold
100:1926–1940
75:, England
56:, England
481:, after
399:for The
379:Withyham
1261:at the
1213:28 June
1168:28 June
1116:27 June
1084:27 June
879:Sources
487:Horsell
445:Riviera
348:Ulysses
268:lesbian
252:Reuters
202:During
84:English
73:Horsell
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212:Rome
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1107:doi
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318:MPs
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170:in
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