Marjorie Maxse


Dame Sarah Algeria Marjorie Maxse, DBE, better known as Marjorie Maxse, was a political organiser and the first female chief organization officer of the Conservative Party.
Maxse was the daughter of Ernest George Berkeley Maxse and Sarah Alice Nottage-Miller. In 1940 Maxse was appointed director of the Children's Overseas Reception Board and vice-chair of the Women's Voluntary Services for Civil Defence. However, she was also chief of staff for Section D of MI6.
Guy Burgess, the Soviet spy, worked for Section D and suggested to Maxse she should recruit his friend, Kim Philby. In his book, My Secret War Philby described his first meeting with Maxse: "I found myself in the forecourt of St. Ermin's Hotel, near St James's Park station, talking to Miss Marjorie Maxse. She was an intensely likeable elderly lady. I had no idea then, as I have no idea now, what her precise position in government was. But she spoke with authority, and was evidently in a position at least to recommend me for interesting employment. At an early stage of our talk, she turned the subject to the possibilities of political work against the Germans in Europe."

Honours

She was invested as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1918 and as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1941.
She was knighted as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1952 for her contributions and services to politics, gaining the title of Dame Marjorie Maxse, as she preferred to be known.

Death

Dame Marjorie Maxse died on 3 May 1975, aged 83.