Edith Wilson (1869-1953) was a prolific writer. In 1913 she won first prize in a national Quaker essay competition for “The Modern Outlook of Quakerism”. She served on the War and Social Order Committee, and was a prominent “absolutist” linked with the (British) Friends Service Committee (on which some brief historical notes can be found in the King’s College London Archive Catalogue). She was the author of the Yearly Meeting pamphlet that led to the arrest and imprisonment of three office holders of the Yearly Meeting in 1918. She campaigned on issues of disarmament between the wars, and was the author of numerous books on Quaker church government and process.
Wilson wrote a paper on “The Question of Domestic Service” which was discussed at the first meeting of the WSOC in June 1915, and later (in 1916) criticised the attitudes of Quaker employers. Her view was that being good employers wasn’t enough, and she noted that Quakers were also ‘good’ slaveholders.