Juanita Maxwell Phillips (23 June 188014 November 1966) was a politician and activist. She was the first woman to serve on Honiton Borough Council (now Honiton Town Council), as mayor of Honiton, and on

Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. Based in the city of Exeter, the council covers the non-metropolitan county area of Devon. Members of the council (councillors) are elected every four years to ...

. As mayor of Honiton, she became the first woman mayor in the West Country. She was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1950.

Early life

Phillips was born in Valparaíso to Margarita Maxwell Comber and Thomas Comber, a British businessman in the mineral industry. The family had moved back to the United Kingdom by the early 1890s. She married Tom Phillips, a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

, in 1906. During the First World War, she served in the War Office.

Activism

Phillips was involved in the

suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and other social movements for women's rights. As a suffragist, she headed local chapters of the Women's Social and Political Union, sold a suffragist newspaper, participated in protests, and picketed outside the Exeter jail where

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

was held after an arrest in December 1913. Phillips was a member of numerous activist groups. Among other organizations, she belonged to the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship (earlier called the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies); the

Open Door Council The Open Door Council, established in May 1926, was a British organisation pressing for equal economic opportunities for women. It opposed the extension of 'protective legislation' for women, regarding such legislation as 'restrictive' and arguing t ...

, for which she was a member of the Executive Committee; the National Council of Women, of which she helped to found the Devon chapter; the Women's Institutes; and the

Six Point Group The Six Point Group was a British feminist campaign group founded by Lady Rhondda in 1921 to press for changes in the law of the United Kingdom in six areas. Aims The six original specific aims were: # Satisfactory legislation on child assault; ...

. Like many members of the Six Point Group, she opposed

new feminism New feminism is a form of feminism that emphasizes the integral complementarity of women and men, rather than the superiority of men over women or women over men, and advocates for respecting persons from conception to natural death. New femini ...

Political career

Phillips became a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1922 and also served as a

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

. In 1921, she was first elected to Honiton Borough Council as an independent. She served, as both a councillor and alderperson, until 1953, when she and her husband moved out of Honiton. In the 1920s, while a member of Honiton Borough Council, she championed the appointment of women police officers. Phillips stood for

in 1928, but lost by 74 votes. She was first elected to Council, running opposed, in 1931, and served until 1965. On Council, she served on the committees for Maternity and Child Welfare (of which she was chair as of 1941), Public Assistance, Public Health, Air Raids Precautions (during the Second World War), and Education.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Juanita Maxwell 1880 births 1966 deaths 20th-century English women politicians Women mayors of places in England English suffragists English women activists Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century English politicians Mayors of places in Devon People from Valparaíso British expatriates in Chile