| Name |
Frances Millais CULPIN |
| Birth |
Mar 1914 |
Young, New South Wales, Australia  [1] |
| Gender |
Female |
 Newspaper Report |
22 Dec 1934 |
London [2] |
| THE TIMES: PRISONERS OF WAR. Captain Stanley Shaw's suggestion that it would profit a country to treat decently its prisoners of war prompts me to tell of an incident of last summer. While resting by a wood near Freiburg in Breisgau I was given a cheery \"Gluck auf\" by a middle-aged countryman, who talked to me about bees and honey and pine tress till he discovered I was English. Becoming at once more friendly still, he told how he had spent three years in England as a Kriegsgefangener, how well he was treated, how he didn\'t see much of Manchester because of course he was in a prison, but then he was sent to Wales to work in a quarry Dough-hely (Dolgelly?), what a fine country it was, what a good time he had, and finally that he would visit it again if he had the money. Decent treatment of prisoners may help to win a war, but the testimony of this simple countryman shows that it may be worth while for even better reasons. Frances M Culpin, 12, Park Village East, N.W.1 |
| Newspaper Report |
14 Oct 2003 |
Winchester, Hants |
| HAMPSHIRE CHRONICLE: GRAN, 89, IS JAILED. SHE may be 89 but Hampshire great-grandmother Frances Mackeith still fights for what she believes in. Having spent the past 40 years taking part in peace protests across the country, the defiant pensioner was never going to let her age stand in the way of her principles. And yesterday the widow, who is not unused to brushing with the long arm of the law, found herself behind bars for just that. Mrs Mackeith, of Oliver's Battery Crescent, near Winchester, was frogmarched from a court room for refusing to pay a fine imposed by Hertfordshire magistrates last month after she was convicted of obstructing a highway at an anti-war protest in North London in January. The mother of six had originally denied the charge but she was found guilty and ordered to pay court costs and a £90 penalty. She paid the court costs but was yesterday taken to the cells at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court after repeatedly refusing to pay the fine. Last night Mrs Mackeith, who was freed at 2pm, told the Daily Echo: "I'm still hyped up but I expect I shall feel tired later, but I have no regrets and I would do it all again. I am pretty healthy, very obstinate and I have always had a lot of support from my friends and family. "I was taken away by two beefy people and had to sit in a cell for three hours, where I was fed a rather revolting lunch, but I would do it again. "It was pretty unlikely that, at my age, I was going to change my mind. For a long time I have felt that war is wrong." Mrs Mackeith, who also has ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, has been a Quaker for 30 years, ever since she moved to Winchester with her late husband. She began demonstrating for world peace in the 1960s and got her first taste for non-violent campaigning during the famous sit-down at Trafalgar Square. Since then she has been arrested four times and apprehended by the Army once on Salisbury Plain. Mrs Mackeith, who arrived at court yesterday carrying an overnight bag, had been warned by magistrates last month that if she did not pay the fine in full, she would face up to seven days in prison. Yesterday when she was asked if she would pay by chairman of the bench Jean Cooper, she adamantly told the court: "No, I don't want to." After 30 minutes' deliberation, Ms Cooper told Mrs Mackeith that the bench found she was wilfully refusing to pay and added: "You will be detained in court cells until court rises today." After the sentence, her friend and fellow Quaker Maureen Pearse, from Upper Swanmore, said: "She was determined she was going to do it. She would have been prepared to go for longer. She has been protesting against war most of her life." |
| Death |
14 Dec 2011 |
Winchester, Hants [3] |
| Newspaper Report |
20 Jan 2012 |
Winchester, Hants [4] |
| THE GUARDIAN: My mother, Frances MacKeith, who has died aged 97, spent more than half a century campaigning for peace. She was brilliantly well-read, a doyenne of crosswords, an enthusiastic player of the violin and viola, a great walker and naturalist, the creator of a beautiful wild meadow and the "befriender" of many a refugee and traveller from overseas. She had the gift of friendship with all age groups, was entirely without vanity and had no malice in her heart. In personal matters she might have followed the Quaker guideline "In case of emergency remain silent", but in public matters she was a fearless, determined and outspoken advocate for peace and internationalism. Frances ("Jo" to family and old friends) Culpin was born in Young, New South Wales. Her parents had married while working in Shanghai and were enjoying an extended year-long honeymoon visiting Australia. This link with Australia was to remain strong and she spent four years there during the second world war to keep her two children safe from the London bombing. She was proud of her degree in German from University College London, from where she graduated in 1936. She went to Germany as part of her education, spending time at Tübingen and Heidelberg universities. The close friendships she made there, and her love of German language and literature, remained with her throughout her life. Through her father, Millais Culpin, a distinguished psychologist and early psychotherapist, Jo met Stephen MacKeith, a young psychiatrist, and they married in 1938. They enjoyed an enduring marriage until Stephen's death in 1995. Together they raised six children. Starting with her active participation on the Aldermaston March in the 1950s and anti-Vietnam war demonstrations, Jo went on to join the Quakers in Winchester in the 60s. The local Friends called her "The Peace Woman", regarding her with both respect and apprehension because of her proactive stance. Well into her 80s she travelled considerable distances to take part in demonstrations against nuclear and conventional weapons, including at Faslane, Greenham Common and Aldermaston, where a 90th birthday party was thrown for her. Aged 86 she was briefly imprisoned for demonstrating against the Iraq war. Strengthened by her formidable intellect, quiet authority and a profound sense of humanity, she was an inspiration to many, not least her own family. Her son Jim died in 2007. She is survived by me and my siblings Bill, Lucy, Tom and Nancy. |
| Newspaper Report |
26 Jan 2012 |
Winchester, Hants [3] |
| THE INDEPENDENT: Lives Remembered. Frances MacKeith, peace campaigner. Frances MacKeith died peacefully at home in Winchester on 14 December 2011 aged 97. Her long life encompassed over half a century of campaigning for peace. She had the gift of friendship with all age groups. She was brilliantly well-read, a doyenne of crosswords, an enthusiastic player of the violin and viola, a great walker and naturalist, the creator of a beautiful wild meadow, the befriender of many a refugee and traveller from overseas. She was entirely without vanity and had no malice in her heart. In personal matters she might follow the Quaker guideline "In case of emergency remain silent", but in public matters she was a fearless, determined and outspoken advocate for peace and internationalism. |
| Person ID |
I2075 |
Freeman-Culpin | Culpin descendants |
| Last Modified |
16 Mar 2018 |
1914 - 2011 (97 years)
