{{short description|British poet and diarist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use British English|date=October 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Lucy Masterman | image = Lucy_Masterman.jpg | alt = | caption = Lucy Masterman, c. 1929 | birth_date = {{birth date|1884|07|19|df=yes}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1977|04|22|1884|07|19|df=yes}} | death_place = | father = Neville Lyttelton | relatives = Lyttelton family | spouse = {{marriage|Charles Masterman|1908|1927|end=d.}} | children = 3, including Margaret }} [[File:Saint Giles Church, Camberwell plaque to Charles Masterman.jpg|thumb|right|Plaque at St Giles' Church, Camberwell commemorating Lucy Masterman]] '''Lucy Blanche Masterman''' (née ''Lyttelton''; 19 July 1884{{spaced ndash}}22 April 1977) was a British poet and diarist from the Lyttelton family. In 1908 she married the Liberal journalist Charles Masterman, who was later elected to parliament and briefly served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. After his death, she stood for parliament unsuccessfully as a Liberal.
==Early life== Lyttelton was born in Gibraltar in 1884. She was the eldest daughter of General Sir Neville Lyttelton and his wife Katherine Sarah Stuart-Wortley.<ref name=bloke>{{Cite book |last=Matthew |first=H. C. G. |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-34927 |title=Masterman, Charles Frederick Gurney (1873–1927), politician and author |date=2004-09-23 |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/34927}}</ref> She joined the Fabian Society and on 2 July 1908 she married Charles Masterman. They had one son, Neville Masterman, who became a history lecturer at the University College of Swansea, and two daughters, including Margaret Masterman, a linguist, and Dorothy Masterman, who lived in Battersea.
==Literary career== Masterman was the author of ''A Book of Wild Things'' (1910), ''Lyrical Poems'' (1912)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/lyricalpoems00mast ''Lyrical Poems''], archive.org</ref> and ''Poems'' (1913). She worked as literary editor for ''Outlook'' and kept a diary while her husband was in government. In 1918, together with Elizabeth Lee, she published ''Wives of the Prime Ministers 1844-1906'',<ref>[https://archive.org/details/wivesofprimemini00leeeuoft ''Wives of the Prime Ministers 1844-1906''], archive.org</ref> and in 1939 followed this with ''C. F. G. Masterman: a biography''. In 1930 she edited the papers of Mary Gladstone, published as ''Mary Gladstone (Mrs Drew): her diaries and letters''. Her final publication was ''London from the Bus-top: A guide for the impecunious traveller'' (1951).
==Political career== When her husband was a minister then they worked as a team. She was creditted with being tougher than her husband and her near minister status made her a confidente of LLoyd George. She and her husband were in favour of giving women the vote although her husband's resolve relaxed.<ref name=bloke/>
After her husband died she used her diaries to create his biography.<ref name=bloke/>
At the 1929 General Election, two years after her husband’s death, Masterman was the Liberal candidate for the Conservative-held seat of Salisbury.<ref name=bloke/> The Liberals had last won the seat in 1923 and had come second in 1924. She finished a strong second, well ahead of Labour.<ref name=Craig>F. W. S. Craig, ''British parliamentary election results 1918–1949'' (Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services, 3rd edition, 1983) [1969], p. 497 {{ISBN|0-900178-06-X}}</ref>
Masterman remained active for the Liberals in Salisbury and was again their candidate at the Salisbury by-election in March 1931, when she again finished second; after that, she continued as prospective Liberal candidate for Salisbury until being stood down in September 1931. In August of that year the Liberals and Conservatives had joined the new National Government, and the Salisbury Liberals agreed not to contest the seat. Masterman did not stand at an election again, but she remained politically active. In June 1936 she was elected to serve on the Liberal Party Council.<ref>The Liberal Magazine, 1936</ref>
==Election results== {{Election box begin | |title=1929 United Kingdom general election: Salisbury<ref name=Craig/>}} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Conservative Party (UK) |candidate = Hugh Morrison |votes = 15,672 |percentage = 47.3 |change = −9.0 }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Liberal Party (UK) |candidate = '''Lucy Blanche Masterman''' |votes = 13,022 |percentage = 39.3 |change = +3.7 }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Labour Party (UK) |candidate = F. R. Hancock |votes = 4,435 |percentage = 13.4 |change = +5.3 }} {{Election box majority| |votes = 2,650 |percentage = 8.0 |change = −12.7 }} {{Election box turnout| |votes = 33,129 |percentage = 81.9 |change = +0.1 }} {{Election box hold with party link| |winner = Conservative Party (UK) |swing = }} {{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin | |title=1931 Salisbury by-election<ref name=Craig/>}} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Conservative Party (UK) |candidate = James Archibald St George Fitzwarenne-Despencer Robertson |votes = 15,800 |percentage = 53.9 |change = +6.3 }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Liberal Party (UK) |candidate = '''Lucy Blanche Masterman''' |votes = 9,588 |percentage = 32.7 |change = −6.6 }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Labour Party (UK) |candidate = F. R. Hancock |votes = 3,939 |percentage = 13.4 |change = +0 }} {{Election box majority| |votes = 6,212 |percentage = 21.2 |change = +13.2 }} {{Election box turnout| |votes = 29,327 |percentage = 71.1 |change = −10.8 }} {{Election box hold with party link| |winner = Conservative Party (UK) |swing = +6.6 }} {{Election box end}} ==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Gutenberg author|id=45670}} *[http://www.ukwhoswho.com Who's Who] *[http://www.oxforddnb.com Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] *The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1929
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Masterman, Lucy}} Category:1884 births Category:1977 deaths Category:20th-century British poets Category:20th-century British women poets Category:20th-century British diarists Category:Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Lucy Masterman Category:Spouses of British politicians Category:British women diarists Category:Members of the Fabian Society Category:British literary editors Category:British magazine editors