Gabrielle Davis (born ca.1941),

Sheriff of Canterbury The Sheriff of Canterbury is a shrievalty in the city of Canterbury, England. The office was first held in 1461 by Richard Carpenter, when a charter of king Edward IV granted the city the perpetual status of a county independent of Kent itself. ...

2009–2010, is a former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

councillor for

Canterbury City Council Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of th ...

. She is notable for volunteering to head the "defence of our heritage" movement against a vote by

Executive Committee on 21 January 2010 to close

Herne Bay Museum and Gallery The Seaside Museum Herne Bay is a local museum in Herne Bay, Kent, England. It was established in 1932 (as the Herne Bay Museum) and is notable for being a seaside tourist attraction featuring local archaeological and social history, for featu ...

and other repositories of local

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

for the sake of saving £112,600 per year.

Background

She was born in about 1941,Kent Online 5 February 2001: Suffering with extra netball
/ref> in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and lived in

Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...

, attending La Sainte Union Convent School which was run by the Sisters of La Sainte Union des Sacrés-Coeurs, and is now closed. She was later a journalist writing features in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She worked for a number of women's magazines published by IPC (Woman's Day, Woman's Realm, Woman's Weekly...). She is now again living in Herne Bay, writes the

Beltinge Beltinge is a low cliff-top suburb of Herne Bay in Kent, England. It forms the easternmost part of the urban area of Herne Bay and is just west of the small settlement of Reculver, which had an important Roman Fort and a channel which served to ...

column for ''

Herne Bay Gazette Herne may refer to: Places Australia * Herne Hill, Victoria * Herne Hill, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Riverwood, New South Wales, formerly known as Herne Bay England * Herne, Kent, near the town of Herne Bay * Herne Bay, seaside tow ...

'' and supports causes concerning pets and wildlife. She was fund-raising officer for six years at

Cats Protection Cats Protection, formerly the Cats Protection League, is a UK charity dedicated to rescuing and rehoming stray, unwanted or homeless cats and educating people about cats and cat welfare. The organisation was founded as the Cats Protection Leag ...

in Canterbury, and is now Trustee for Animals Worldwide.

Duties

She was elected a member of Canterbury City Council in 2003 and

in May 2009 and was a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

member for

Reculver Reculver is a village and coastal resort about east of Herne Bay on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. It is in the ward of the same name, in the City of Canterbury district of Kent. Reculver once occupied a strategic location ...

. Until May 2010 she was the latest in the line of Sheriffs of Canterbury which goes back to 1461 CE. In past centuries the post involved tax-collecting and police work, but since 1974 the Sheriff has been relieved of those duties and now represents the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

at functions and other civic duties. The postholder is elected at the annual

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

meeting in May, for one year. In May 2010 she was succeeded as Sheriff of Canterbury by Councillor Sally Pickersgill.

Defence of our heritage

In October 2009

said it had to save £3.5m for budgeting purposes. The executive committee made its final recommendation to close the museum on 21 January 2010; the final vote to be taken on 18 February 2010. Councillor Davis is a founder-member of Herne Bay Improvement and Conservation Trust, and some of her colleagues on the Trust are members of Herne Bay Historical Society, which has charge of most of the collections at Herne Bay Museum. In response to the Council vote to close the museum, she volunteered to "head defence of our heritage", in spite of the fact that the vote for closure was made by her Conservative colleagues on the council.

References

External links

Canterbury City Council Online: Gabrielle Davis pageCanterbury City Council Online: The office of sheriffCanterbury City Council Online: Agenda for Exec Committee 21 Jan 2010
(includes link to audio recording of meeting) {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Gabrielle People from Herne Bay, Kent Sheriffs of Canterbury Living people Year of birth missing (living people)