Mary Ann Mercer (1883 – 26 September 1945) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
politician, who served as the first woman and first
Labour Party Mayor of
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
.
Personal life
Born in
Newport, Shropshire
Newport is a constituent market town in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 census recorded 10,814 people living in the town's paris ...
, her father died when she was three. Despite her limited schooling, Mercer worked as a housekeeper,
trained as a nurse and then worked in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
as a district visitor. While there, she met and married a
Labour Party activist and journalist in 1912. In 1914 they moved to the Wirral and had a family. She died in 1945 and is buried in
Flaybrick cemetery,
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
.
Political life
Mercer became active in the Labour Party (UK) when she moved to the Wirral.
Mercer was elected to Birkenhead Town Council in 1919, representing Argyle ward.
In 1924, she was elected as Mayor of Birkenhead, the first woman to hold the post, and also the first Labour Party member to hold the post.
While in office, she unveiled
Birkenhead War Memorial. She moved to become the town's first woman
alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...
in 1926, serving until 1932, when she returned to representing Argyle until 1945.
Mercer stood in
Liverpool Fairfield at the
1924 United Kingdom general election, taking second place with 37.1% of the vote. She next stood in
Birkenhead East at the
1935 United Kingdom general election, when she took 23.3% of the vote, and only third place.
Mercer also served as a
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
from 1929.
Legacy
Mercer Road in
Prenton
Prenton is a suburb of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is also a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead, within ...
(previously the local government Bidston and St James Ward) is named after her. She was commemorated in 2018 with a
blue plaque on 103 Norman Street,
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
where she once lived.
portraitof her as Mayor b
Maude Hall Nealeis displayed in the
Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead.
In 2021 Mercer was included in a mural commissioned for the centre of Birkenhead, painted by artist Joseph Venning.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Mary
1945 deaths
Labour Party (UK) councillors
Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates
Mayors of places in Merseyside
Politicians from Birkenhead
1883 births
Women councillors in England
Councillors in Merseyside
Women mayors of places in England