Pearl Binder, Baroness Elwyn-Jones (pronounced /ˈbaɪndə/;^[1] 28 June 1904 – 25 January 1990)^[2][3] was a British writer, illustrator, stained-glass artist, lithographer, sculptor and a champion of the Pearly Kings and Queens.

Binder was a well-known character who had a lifelong fascination with the East End of London, where she settled in the 1920s. In 1974, she became Lady Elwyn-Jones, when her husband, the politician and lawyer Elwyn Jones, was appointed Lord Chancellor and made a life peer, taking the title Baron Elwyn-Jones.^[4]

Pearl "Polly" Binder was born in Salford in Greater Manchester. Her father was Jacob Binderevski, a Jewish tailor^[3] who came to Britain in 1890 and shortly afterwards became a British citizen. Her mother's name, origins and profession are not recorded in any of the artist's biographies.^{[citation needed]}

Binder moved to London after the first world war and studied art at Central School of Art and Design, with a focus on lithography.^[5] In this time Binder drew scenes from everyday life in London that she made into lithographs. She published a series that illustrated "The Real East End" by Thomas Burke, a popular writer who ran a pub in Poplar at the time. Binder's illustrations are an intimate, first-hand portrayal of grimy London life in that era.^[6] In 1933 Binder was one of the founders of the left-wing Artists' International Association.^[7][8]

In 1937, Binder was involved in the earliest days of television broadcasting for children.^[4] That year, she co-presented Clothes-Line with the fashion historian James Laver. This live six-part series was the first television programme on the history of fashion. As she did not give birth to her daughter Josephine until 6 January 1938 – less than a month after the last episode transmitted – Binder could well have been the first heavily pregnant woman to appear on television.^[9]

In the course of her life, Binder travelled extensively in Russia and China, designed a musical,^[10] designed costumes for a theatre company, wrote stories for children, designed a Pearly mug and plate for Wedgwood, and instigated and executed a series of armorial windows at the House of Lords.^[5][11]

In 1937, she married Elwyn Jones. They had three children: fashion historian Lou Taylor,^[9] artist and activist Dan Jones,^[12][13] and the children's author Josephine Gladstone,^[9] whose books she illustrated. After her death, her son-in-law, Joe Taylor recalled, "She was a woman who had great concern for others, especially women - she was a very keen supporter of women's rights", always keeping the name Pearl Binder next to her husband's name on the plaque outside their flat.^[3]

Binder died in Brighton on 25 January 1990 aged 86, seven weeks after the death of her husband.^[3][14]