Dorothy Mary Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Lymington, GBE,

DStJ The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of c ...

(née Warwick, 29 August 1921 – 4 October 2003), previously known as Dame Mary Donaldson, was the first female

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

(1983–84). Born at Wickham,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, the daughter of an ironmonger and a school teacher, Donaldson trained as a nurse during the war and qualified in 1946.Julia Langdo
Obituary: Dame Mary Donaldson
''The Guardian'', 8 October 2003. From 1967 to 1969, she chaired the Women's National Cancer Control Campaign, and then served as the vice president of the British Cancer Council. In 1966, she was elected a member of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

Court of Common Council The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. Elections are held at least every four years. It is largely composed o ...

, and became the first female

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

in 1975, the first female

Sheriff of the City of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

in 1981 and in 1983 the first female Lord Mayor.

''"Of course there are things which men can do better than women ... But equally, women have attributes which men can never possess. Personally, I find it difficult not to become over-involved in issues concerning people"'', Donaldson once commented.

Donaldson chaired the Interim Licensing Authority for Human In Vitro Fertilisation and Embryology (see ''

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body that regulates and inspects all clinics in the United ...

'') from 1985 and then was a member of the

Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Indep ...

from 1991 to 1996. She remained the only female Lord Mayor of the City of London until the election of

Fiona Woolf Dame Catherine Fiona Woolf, (''née'' Swain; born 11 May 1948) is a British corporate lawyer. She served as the Lord Mayor of London (2013–14), acting as global ambassador for UK-based financial and business services. She has held and still ...

in 2013.James Pickle
"Fiona Woolf second woman in 800 years to be Lord Mayor of London"
''Financial Times'', 30 September 2013.

Family

Donaldson was the wife of

John Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington, (6 October 1920 – 31 August 2005) was a senior British judge who served as Master of the Rolls for ten years, from 1982 to 1992. He is best known in some circles for his role as presiding ...

, who was

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales a ...

(1982–92); they married in 1945 and had two daughters and a son.

References

1921 births 2003 deaths 1983 in England Donaldson of Lymington English nurses Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Dames of Justice of the Order of St John 20th-century lord mayors of London 20th-century English politicians 20th-century British women politicians 20th-century English women politicians Sheriffs of the City of London Women mayors of places in England Spouses of life peers People from Lymington Place of death missing People from the City of Winchester Wives of knights {{UK-noble-stub