Mabel Strickland

Mabel Edeline Strickland, OBE (8 January 1899 – 29 November 1988), was an Anglo-Maltese journalist, newspaper proprietor and politician.

Family and personal life

Strickland was the daughter of Sir Gerald Strickland (later Lord Strickland), Prime Minister of Malta, by Lady Edeline Sackville, eldest daughter of Reginald Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr. Her mother, Lady Edeline Sackville, was the eldest daughter of Reginald Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr, of Knole, in Kent.

Having never married or had children of her own, Mabel Strickland's chosen heir was her great nephew Robert Hornyold-Strickland.

Residences

Mabel Strickland lived the most of her life at Villa Parisio in Lija, Malta.

Career

Strickland founded a newspaper group in Malta with her father and her stepmother, Lady Strickland, DBE (Margaret, daughter of Edward Hulton). In 1935 she became editor of The Times of Malta and "Il Berqa" before taking over as Managing Director of the Group on the death of her father in 1940. The paper never missed an issue throughout the Siege of Malta in World War Two, despite taking direct hits on several occasions. She formed and led the Progressive Constitutionalist Party during the 1950s and was one of the principal political leaders of the 1950s, participating in the integration talks in 1956-57 as well as opposing independence in 1964. She was elected to the Maltese Parliament in 1962. She always fought passionately for a free and independent press and to maintain Malta's ties with Britain and the Commonwealth. On her retirement she has established the Strickland Foundation in the name of her family.

Death

Mabel Strickland died on 29 November 1988, and is buried in the Strickland family crypt in St. Paul's Cathedral, Mdina. Her tombstone lies near that of her father, who was the principal influence in her life.