author
A. Maude (Agnes Maude) Royden
1876–1956
An influential English preacher and suffrage campaigner, she brought questions of faith, justice, and women's public leadership to wide audiences in Britain and beyond. Her writing and speaking made her a distinctive voice in debates about religion, peace, and equality in the early 20th century.
1 Audiobook
Sex and Common-Sense
by A. Maude (Agnes Maude) Royden
About the author
Born in Liverpool in 1876, Maude Royden studied at Cheltenham Ladies' College and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She became known as a gifted speaker and writer, and built a public career that joined religious conviction with social reform.
Royden was active in the women's suffrage movement and later became especially well known as a preacher. She spoke at the City Temple in London and helped found the interdenominational Guildhouse, using both platforms to argue for a broader role for women in the church and in public life. She was also a pacifist, and her work often connected Christian belief with practical questions of justice and conscience.
Later known as Maude Royden-Shaw, she continued writing and speaking for many years and was recognized for her public service with appointment to the Order of the Companions of Honour. She died in 1956, remembered as a persuasive religious voice and a determined advocate for women's equality.