Editing Barbara Castle (section)

==Early life==
Barbara Anne Betts was born on 6 October 1910 at 64 Derby Road, [[Chesterfield, Derbyshire|Chesterfield]], the youngest of three children to Frank Betts and his wife Annie Rebecca (''née'' Ferrand).{{sfnp|Martineau|2000|p=3}} Raised in [[Pontefract]], [[Bradford]], and [[Hyde, Greater Manchester|Hyde]], Castle grew up in a politically active home and was introduced to socialism from a young age.<ref name = ODNB>{{cite ODNB|title = Castle [née Betts], Barbara Anne, Baroness Castle of Blackburn (1910–2002), politician|last = Howard|first = Anthony|date = 2006|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/76877}}</ref> Her older sister, [[Marjorie McIntosh (politician)|Marjorie]], later became a pioneer of the [[Inner London Education Authority]], while their brother Tristram (almost always called Jimmie) engaged in field work with [[Oxfam]] in Nigeria. She joined the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] as a teenager.

Her father was a tax inspector, exempt from military service in the [[First World War]] due to his high rank in a [[reserved occupation]]. It was because of the nature of the tax-collecting profession, and the promotions he received, that the family frequently moved around the country. Having moved to [[Bradford]] in 1922, the Betts family swiftly became involved with the [[Independent Labour Party]].<ref name = ODNB/> Although her father was prohibited from formal political activity because of his role as a civil servant, he became editor of the ''[[Bradford Pioneer]]'', the city's socialist newspaper, after [[William Leach (politician)|William Leach]] was elected to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935]].<ref name="Obit">{{cite news|author=Anne Perkins|url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/politicsobituaries/story/0,,709885,00.html|title=Obituary: Baroness Castle of Blackburn|date=4 May 2002|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104151735/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/politicsobituaries/story/0,,709885,00.html|archive-date=4 November 2007|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/famousperson/castle/2561817 |title=Barbara Castle |publisher=Lasting Tribute |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070726094629/http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/famousperson/castle/2561817 |archive-date=26 July 2007 }}</ref> Castle's mother ran the family home while also operating a soup kitchen for the town's coalminers. After Barbara had left home Annie was elected as a Labour councillor in Bradford.