My mother, Lucy Torode, who has died aged 99, was a teacher and social historian who spread her enthusiasm and knowledge among pupils, the local history society she initiated and her family worldwide. Her teaching reflected a strong sense of social justice learned from her parents, the Moravian church that she grew up in, and the Manchester Guardian, then the Guardian, newspaper that she read for most of her life.
Born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, Lucy was the daughter of GW (Willie) MacLeavy, the local minister (he later became Bishop MacLeavy of the Moravian church), and Dora (nee La Trobe), a music teacher. She attended nearby schools and was well aware of the poverty of those around her. As her father frequently moved between congregations, she later went to the Moravian boarding school at Fulneck, near Leeds. She did not like being away from home and later explained her support for Amnesty International by saying that she knew what it was like to be held in an institution for no reason.
