With the publication of the article ‘What Honor did next, the pioneering broadcasting career of Honor Balfour (1912-2001)’, in the Journal of Liberal Democrat History, a very enjoyable period spent researching her remarkable life comes to a close.
Posts By: Helen Langley
BBC History Research: ‘Honor Balfour: the first significant woman in BBC Current Affairs’
In July 2019 as a guest contributor to the BBC history research website an introduction to Honor’s career at the BBC. The full article can be found here.
Honor Balfour’s contribution to British broadcasting
Research into Honor Balfour’s career as a journalist continues to yield rewards. It was against the backdrop of the early rivalry between the BBC Talks and News Departments that Honor forged her contribution to broadcasting which would span over the next three decades. The research continues but with the emphasis now firmly on Honor Balfour’s role as arguably the first significant woman current affairs commentator in broadcasting.
A Work in Progress talk: ‘A narrative from the archives: the life of the journalist and broadcaster Honor Balfour (1912-2001)’
A talk given to Friends of the Women’s Library, LSE, 20 November 2019
UK Vote 100: ‘Honor Balfour, Westminster and a Woman’s voice’
December 2018, as a guest contributor to the parliamentary archives vote100 blog. Honor regularly wrote and broadcast about Westminster politics. https://ukvote100.org/2018/12/17/honor-balfour-westminster-and-a-womans-voice/
Upcoming talk: ‘Ditchley and Cliveden: a case of relative values?’
Oxfordshire Gardens Trust, 20 September 2019.
The talk explores connections between the two great estates in the twentieth century.
A talk at Cliveden: ‘Lady (Nancy) Astor (1879-1964) and Cliveden’s political landscape’
A talk, at Cliveden, in August 2018 on ‘Lady (Nancy) Astor (1879-1964) and Cliveden’s political landscape’ to members of the volunteer research group preparing for the National Trust marking the centenary of Lady Astor’s election to parliament in 1919. The talk drew on research in 2017 in the Astor archives held in the Museum of… Read more »
Honor Balfour’s career as a journalist and broadcaster
I always believed Honor Balfour (1912-2001) was too modest about her life but even so I’ve been blown away by discovering the extent and range of her broadcasting career…
The struggle for equal pay for women
‘A home should be the centre of a woman’s life, not its boundary’ (Irene Ward).
Waldorf and Nancy Astor at Cliveden
Inspired by the depth and breadth of the Astors’ archive at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), University of Reading, my current project focuses on Waldorf and Nancy Astor’s years at Cliveden and some of the less familiar stories.