Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading

Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, Baroness Swanborough, GBE (née Charnaud; 6 January 1894 – 22 May 1971) was an English philanthropist who is best remembered as the founder and chairman of the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS), now known as Royal Voluntary Service.

Lady Reading championed promoting Anglo-American relations, not only as the wife of a former British Ambassador to the U.S., but also in her peacetime role helping to rebuild the British economy and find stimulating employment for women – both voluntary and paid. In addition to the WVS, she also established the company Women's Home Industries, a highly successful exponent of British craft and cultural traditions in clothing and textiles, but also an extensive exporter to the United States, Canada, and sometimes France.

She served on boards of various cultural bodies, including the BBC Advisory Board and Glyndebourne, and was a keen early supporter of the University of Sussex. In 1958, she became the first woman to take a seat in the House of Lords in her own right. A 1963 profile in The Observer said: "the W.V.S. has brought out in her the latent political talent and the strength of character that once induced someone to say of her that had she been a man she would have become Prime Minister".

Early life and career Stella Charnaud was born on 6 January 1894 in Constantinople (now Istanbul). Her father Charles Charnaud was a director of the tobacco monopoly of the Ottoman Empire. Her mother, Milbah Johnson, was from Lincolnshire and was Charnaud's second wife. The family lived on the Asian side of the Bosphorus at Moda.

Due to poor health, much of Stella Charnaud's education was via private tutors. A 1963 profile provided more background on her childhood. She was the fifth of nine Charnaud children – with four brothers and four sisters – and was exactly in the middle. Spinal troubles confined her to bed for "months and years", but she would later speak of its advantages – not least that she became a listening post for her siblings and half siblings. She said: "it was like being the spider in the middle of a large web". The Observer suggested it had taught her the art of diplomacy.

Early voluntary and social work Even before her husband's death Lady Reading had become active in voluntary social work, chairing the Personal Service League, created to serve the needy and unemployed.

As the war progressed, the WVS, funded by the government and local authorities, fed, clothed and re-housed civilians affected by air raids. Initially, the WVS collected samples from its membership – including tapestry, embroidery, quilting and hand knitting – and the response inspired a start-up business supported by the Board of Trade.

The company remained under the auspices of the WVS and operated initially from its HQ at 41 Tothill Street, London SW1, but was a limited company. It remained a highly successful exporter of professionally finished clothing and crafts – notably to the United States – as well as supplying couture houses, with most suppliers being home-based women.

House of Lords

The Marchioness was created a life baroness by letters patent on 23 September 1958, one of only four women in the first cohort of fourteen creations. She took the title Baroness Swanborough, of Swanborough in the County of Sussex to sit on the Crossbenches. On introduction she was the first female peer to sit in the Lords. Her maiden speech questioned the government's policy on refugees and displaced persons of whom she had some war experience. She praised the work of the voluntary services, of which she had been a valid member. She urged the Macmillan government to support the work of the UNHCR worldwide. In her speeches she paid particular attention to the plight of stateless children, who for legal reasons were incapable of achieving citizenship.

She chaired the Home Office's Advisory Council (1962–5) that played a leading role in facilitating the "Windrush" migration to Britain from the Commonwealth. In 1965 she was appointed the working party on the place of the Voluntary Service in After Care. She referred to the prison system and rights of prisoners on release, how they might be cared for, and what rights and obligations they might have.

Other roles From 1936 to 1968, Lady Reading was vice-chair of the Imperial Relations Trust. She was also a trustee of Glyndebourne. and promoted to Dame Grand Cross (GBE) in 1944. On 22 September 1958, she was created a life peer in her own right, becoming Baroness Swanborough. She was the first woman to take her seat in the House of Lords.

She was awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of Reading (1947), Yale (1958), Manitoba (1960) and Leeds (1969), and by Smith College (1956).

Arms