(1872-1957)
Actress, playwright, feminist, and suffragette who organized a network of entertainers with the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) for allied troops at various fronts during World War I and received the Order of the British Empire for her contributions.
Lena Margaret Pocock was born aboard a ship, the Wellesley, on the River Tyne in England on March 13, 1872. She was raised and educated in Canada and then studied music in Switzerland and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Her voice proved inadequate, and she turned to the theater, first as an actress using Ashwell as a stage name and then as an administrator. In 1908, she married the royal obstetrician, Sir Henry Simpson. Ashwell cofounded the Women’s Emergency Corps (WEC) with fellow members of the Actresses’ Franchise League (AFL). The WEC provided industrial training and organized a registry of qualified women who wanted to contribute to the wartime efforts.
In 1914, Ashwell began organizing traveling companies to perform at military bases in Britain with the AFL. She coordinated companies of professional actors with the YMCA Concert Parties, which toured the fronts performing for the troops beginning in February 1915. Because these companies consisted mostly of women, Ashwell encouraged soldiers to volunteer to perform the male roles in their plays.
Ashwell raised more than £100,000 to fund entertainment tours for the troops by hosting special matinees at the London Coliseum, Chelsea Palace, and Lyric Theatres. She also organized entertainment for military families and soldiers within England. In 1918, Ashwell took over the Palace Theatre in Winchester, which was located near several military hospitals and bases. Ashwell’s company performed for nearby soldiers, including prisoners of war.
By 1918, Ashwell had twenty-five companies at the fronts. Her companies performed for troops in France, Malta, Egypt, and Palestine. The companies remained at the front after the war’s end to entertain soldiers still overseas.
Ashwell inspired the creation of the Entertainment National Service Association (ENSA), a government-funded organization that provided entertainment for the troops during World War II. She returned from retirement in 1939 to organize theatrical parties in France on behalf of ENSA. She died in London on March 13, 1957.
