Winifred Elizabeth Cavenagh OBE (née Speakman; 12 November 1908 – 7 May 2004) was a British criminologist, social scientist, and academic. She joined the University of Birmingham as a lecturer in social studies in 1946 and was made Professor of Social Administration and Criminology in 1972: she retired from academia in 1976 and was appointed professor emeritus. Outside of her university career, she served as a local magistrate, on numerous boards, and, after study law and qualifying, worked as a barrister.
Cavenagh was born 12 November 1908 in Manchester, England to Arthur Speakman and Ethel Speakman (née Butterworth).[1][2] She was educated at Broughton and Crumpsall High School for Girls, a school in Salford, Greater Manchester.[2] She studied economics at the London School of Economics, University of London, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree.[1] After graduating, she undertook a further year of study at the University of Bonn.[2] She was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree by the University of Birmingham in 1959 for her monograph The Child and the Court.[1][2]
From 1931 to 1938 she worked as a sales manager at Lewis's, a chain of department stores.[1][2] After two years employed in social work, she joined the Ministry of Labour as the chief welfare officer for Birmingham.[2] She served in that role from 1941 till the end of the Second World War in 1945.[1]
In 1946, Cavenagh joined the University of Birmingham as a lecturer in social studies.[2][3] That year, she also became a co-opted expert member of the Birmingham City Council Education Committee.[1] In 1960, she was promoted to senior lecturer.[2] She spent 1971 as a visiting professor in criminology at the University of Ghana.[1][2] Having returned to Birmingham, she was appointed Professor of Social Administration and Criminology in 1972.[1] She retired from full-time academia in 1976 and was appointed emeritus professor.[1]
In 1949, Cavenagh became a magistrate in the City of Birmingham.[1][3] She choose to study law alongside her university teaching, and was called to the bar (qualifying as a barrister) at Gray's Inn in 1964.[2] She served as a deputy chairperson at the magistrates' court from 1970 to 1978.[1] She was added to the supplemental list, effectively retiring from her judicial duties, in 1978.[1]
In 1938, the then Winifred Speakman married Hugh Cavenagh.[1] The marriage brought one step son.[2] Her husband predeceased her, dying in 1967.[2]
In the 1977 New Year Honours, Cavenagh was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Wages Councils.[4]