Webb, Beatrice and Sidney James

Webb, Beatrice and Sidney James, 1st Baron Passfield, prominent British economists, historians, and social reformers. Beatrice Webb (1858-1943) was born (Martha) Beatrice Potter on January 22, 1858, in Gloucestershire, and educated privately. About 1888 she became interested in socialism while working on a study of poverty in London with the British writer Charles Booth. Sidney Webb (1859-1947), born in London, on July 13, 1859, was educated in Switzerland and Germany and at the City of London College. A civil servant from 1878 to 1891, he joined the socialist Fabian Society in 1885. In 1887 Webb wrote the first edition of Facts for Socialists.