Ann Dummett


Ann, Lady Dummett was an English activist, campaigner for racial justice and published author.

Early life and career

Born at St George Hanover Square, London, the daughter of actor Arthur Chesney, she was related to actors Edmund Gwenn and Cecil Kellaway. She attended Ware Grammar School for Girls and Somerville College, Oxford. In 1951 she married the philosopher Michael Dummett. With Evan Luard, Oxford's MP, they founded the Oxford Committee for Racial Integration, forerunner to Oxfordshire Council for Community Relations, and she became a full-time community relations officer.
She went on to work at the Institute of Race Relations, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and the Runnymede Trust of which she was director from 1984 to 1987. Dummett died on 7 February 2012 in Oxford, England from unknown causes, six weeks after the death of her husband, Michael.

Publications