Margaret (Annie) Dyer-Howe (18 November 1941 - 6 April 2019) was a Montserratian politician and businesswoman, who was the second woman to be appointed as a government minister in the

Legislative Assembly of Montserrat The Legislative Assembly is the legislature of Montserrat. A unicameral body, it has nine elected members. History The Legislative Assembly was established following the promulgation of a new constitution in 2011, replacing the Legislative Counc ...

. She held a number of ministries during her two periods as an elected representative, including as Minister for Education and Social Affairs, Minister for Trade, Agriculture, Lands, Housing and the Environment and Minister of Finance. She also co-founded the

Montserrat Labour Party The Montserrat Labour Party (MLP) was a political party in Montserrat. History The party was established in 1951, and was linked with the Montserrat Trades and Labour Union. In the 1952 elections, the first held under universal suffrage, the p ...

Biography

Margaret Corbett was born 18 November 1941 and grew up in St Patrick's. She attended St. Augustine School in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, and subsequently attended secretarial college in the USA. In 1964 she married politician

Michael Dyer Michael Dyer (born October 13, 1990) is an American football running back. He played college football at Auburn and Louisville. College career Auburn As a true freshman in 2010, Dyer rushed for 1,093 yards on 182 carries and five touchdowns, ...

, who died in 1974. In 1979 she was elected as Southern district member of the

, representing the New People’s Liberation Movement (NPLM), after a by-election in which she was elected to the seat previously held by her husband. During this period she campaigned against the legalisation of abortion. She was re-elected in 1983 and was appointed Minister for Education and Social Affairs; she was the second woman to be appointed as a minister in Montserrat. The first woman to be appointed minister was

Mary Rose Tuitt Mary Rose Tuitt (December 25, 1930 – 2005) was an educator and politician from the island of Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. She was the first woman to serve as a government minister in that country. Life and wo ...

. In 1984 she married Robert Howe. After she lost her seat in the 1987 general election, she was recruited by Montserrat Water Authority. During the same period she and her husband established Howe’s Enterprises, a business producing mineral water and condiments. In the

2001 Montserratian general election General elections were held in Montserrat on 2 April 2001.General Elec ...

, Dyer-Howe was re-elected to the Legislative Council. She was appointed as Minister for Trade, Agriculture, Lands, Housing and the Environment during 2001, and as Minister of Finance from 2001 to 2002. In 2005 she left the NPLM and in advance of the 2009 Montserratian general election, Dyer-Howe co-founded the

with Idabelle Meade and Chedmond Browne. However she was not re-elected. Dyer-Howe died on 6 April 2019. After her funeral mass on 10 May 2019, her coffin was accompanied by the band of the Montserrat Defense Force, to

Lookout Public Cemetery A lookout or look-out is a person in charge of the observation of hazards. The term originally comes from a naval background, where lookouts would watch for other ships, land, and various dangers. The term has now passed into wider parlance. ...

where she was buried. The day of her funeral was declared a national holiday in her honour.

Awards

* Montserrat Order of Excellence (2018) * Bank of Montserrat - Montserrat Icon (2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyer-Howe, Margaret 1941 births 2019 deaths Montserratian women in politics 20th-century British women politicians Montserratian businesspeople Members of the Legislative Council of Montserrat