Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading

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Stella Isaacs, née Charnaud, Marchioness of Reading (b. 6 January 1894, Constantinople - d. 22 May 1971, Sussex, England) was a British political figure and founder and chairman of the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS), known as of 1956 as the WRVS (Women's Royal Voluntary Service). Stella Isaacs later became Baroness Swanborough, of Swanborough, County Sussex in her own right.

Her father was a member of the British Foreign Service. After being educated in Europe, Stella Charnaud joined the staff of the Viceregal Lodge in Delhi, India, where she served as secretary to the wife of the new Viceroy, Rufus Isaacs, the Earl (later the 1st Marquess of Reading). After he was widowed she married the Viceroy herself in 1930.

They returned to England, where Stella, Marchioness of Reading, became increasingly active in voluntary social work and with the Personal Service League, which served the needy and unemployed. Lady Reading became chairman of the League, and then a Magistrate.

[edit] Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading

During this time Lord Reading served as HM High Ambassador in Washington, D.C. and was frequently accompanied by his wife on his diplomatic missions. Upon his death in 1935, Lady Reading devoted herself to fostering Anglo-American co-operation.

After the start of World War II, Home Secretary Samuel Hoare sent for Lady Reading and requested that she establish an organization that would assist the government’s wartime efforts. What Lady Reading founded became the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service for Air Raid Precautions Services, later referred to simply as the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS).

The WVS organized millions of women, most of them housewives, to provide clothing for soldiers and their families. Lady Reading traveled extensively on behalf of the WVS, encouraging women to contribute their services in a time of need and British citizens to support their efforts. As the war progressed, the WVS, funded by the government and local authorities, trained volunteers to cope with war-time emergencies, and the organization evacuated, fed, clothed and re-housed civilians who suffered from enemy air raids.