Joyce Newton-Thompson

Joyce Nettelfold was born in 1893 in London, England. In 1914, she completed a diploma in social science and administration from the London School of Economics, graduating with distinction. Nettelfold was active in the British women's suffrage movement, and one of her roles involved protecting suffragette leader Christabel Pankhurst as a personal bodyguard. She worked as a nurse during World War I, providing support to the Endell Street Military Hospital. In 1917, Nettelfold married lawyer Cyril Newton-Thompson, and the pair moved to Cape Town, South Africa, two years later. They had three sons. One of them, Oswald, would go on to become a member of parliament. == Career and community work ==

In 1924, Joyce Newton-Thompson spearheaded the creation of the first local free meal programs for schoolchildren, which was supported by the government for a time before the responsibility was shifted onto a volunteer organization. In 1931, Newton-Thompson joined six other women and formed the Mothers' Clinic Committee – the first birth control organization in Cape Town. Her co-founders were Ursula Scott, Sallie Woodrow, Beatrice Newton, Adele Bell, Birch Reynardson and Isabel Haddon. She was Mayor of Cape Town from 1959 After her term as mayor, she continued working as a city councillor until 1968. Newton-Thompson wrote a number of articles over the years and authored two books: Gwelo Goodman, South African artist (1951) and The story of a house (1968). She received an honorary LL.D degree from the University of Cape Town in 1971. She died in 1978. == References ==