May Elliot Hobbs (7 February 1877 – 30 December 1956)[1][2] was a Scottish singer, dancer, and promoter of folk traditions.[1][3] She was a teacher, organiser, and lecturer for the English Folk Dance and Song Society, of which she was a founding member.[3][4]
May Elliot Hobbs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Adeline May Isabella Elliot 7 February 1877 |
| Died | 30 December 1956 (aged 79) |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, dancer, and promoter of folk traditions |
Early life
editAdeline May Isabella Elliot was born on 7 February 187 in Selkirkshire, Scotland, the eldest of three children of Jessie and Walter Elliot.[1] Raised among the music and dance traditions of Scotland, she later went to Germany to study piano, giving performances in Britain and Europe.[1]
Following the death of her father in 1904, May moved to London and on 28 November 1906 married Robert Hobbs, a stock-breeder and farmer in Kelmscott, Oxfordshire.[1] The couple had one son, Robert, born in 1907.[1] Robert Hobbs' family owned the Kelmscott manor house rented to William Morris.[1][3]
Folklorist
editIn 1908, May first met Cecil Sharp, subsequently participating in folk dance demonstrations with him and becoming a close friend.[1][3] She was a founder member of the English Folk Dance Society, and involved in its committee.[4][1]
In 1912, she organised a folk dance demonstration in Kelmscott, at which both William Morris' widow, Jane Morris, and daughter May were present - both of whom still lived in the village.[4] Others travelled from the surrounding villages, and further afield.[4] Over the next two decades, Hobbs lectured and taught across the country.[4] In 1916, she helped folklorist Janet Blunt to collect some of the Adderbury morris dances.[1]
Hobbs became a close friend of May Morris, her neighbour in Kelmscott.[5] The two women were both deeply concerned with rural issues and the position of women in society.[5] They founded Kelmscott's Women's Institute in 1916—one of the earliest Women's Institutes in the UK.[5][1] Both played an active role in the life and social activities of the village.[5]
During World War I, Hobbs worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, and in 1917 was involved with the beginning of the Women's Land Army.[1]
In 1928, Hobbs toured the United States, spending the winter in Boston and working on behalf of the city's branch of the Folk Dance Society.[4] The following year, she accompanied the society across Canada.[4] In an obituary for Hobbs, the Society's journal described her as having been "an active pioneer" for its work from its origins.[4]
Lady Denman, Chairman of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, said of Hobbs:
I know of no one with a more thorough knowledge of English country life, nor of anyone who has such a happy gift of making an interesting and inspiring speech and keeping the attention of an audience.[3]
May Elliot Hobbs died on 30 December 1956.[1]
Bibliography
edit- Great Farmers, with James A. Scott Watson (1937)[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Hobbs, Mrs May Elliot - Cecil Sharps People". cecilsharpspeople.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
- ^ "England & Wales Government Probate Death Index 1858-2019". Find My Past. 1957.
- ^ a b c d e "May Elliot Hobbs". Iowa Digital Library.
- ^ a b c d e f g h K., D. N. (1956). "May Elliott Hobbs, Died December 1956". Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. 8 (1): 58–58. ISSN 0071-0563.
- ^ a b c d "A significant new acquisition for Kelmscott Manor: 'The Homestead and the Forest' cot quilt | National Heritage Memorial Fund". www.nhmf.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
- ^ Spargo, Demelza, ed. (1989). This Land is our Land: Aspects of Agriculture in English Art. Internet Archive. London: Mall Galleries. ISBN 978-0-9513854-0-1.