The grandfather of the recently deceased actor of stage and screen, Angela Lansbury (1925-2022), was a long-serving British Labour Party MP who led the Party for a time in the early 1930s.
His name was George Lansbury (1859-1940) and I have just written an Irishman's Diary in the Irish Times about him and his commitment to bringing about better relations between Britain and Ireland. Read my newspaper article here.
Portrait of George Lansbury from the National Portrait Gallery. Image source.
Lansbury was a committed Socialist who was concerned with worker's rights, women's rights, peace, and local democracy, among other things.
As I mention in my article, George Lansbury was described by Hannah Sheehy Skeffington as a "faithful friend of Ireland". This was on account of the ways he tried to help foster better relations between Ireland and Britain during his time as an MP.
If you want to find out more about George Lansbury, you can look at his papers, which are held in the LSE (see here). The website and Twitter account of the George Lansbury Memorial Trust also contain more information about the man.
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