Dame Mary Latchford Kingsmill Jones, DBE, JP ( Mary Latchford Jones; 27 June 1877 – 2 April 1968) was a British Conservative politician and the first woman

Lord Mayor of Manchester This is a list of the Lord Mayors of the City of Manchester in the North West of England. Not to be confused with the Directly elected Greater Manchester Mayor. The Current and 124th Lord Mayor is Cllr Donna Ludford, Labour who has served Sinc ...

Life

Mary Latchford Jones was born on 28 June 1877 at 3 Wodehouse Terrace, North Circular Road, Dublin, the daughter of Percival Jones (1839–1906), a Dublin merchant and committed freemason, and Margaret Jones ( Williams; 1846–1920), originally from Mallow. She had a twin sister, Suzie Williams Jones (1877–1952), and two brothers, Percival Thomas Jones (1873–1894) and Kingsmill Williams Jones (1875–1918). She was educated at

Alexandra College Alexandra College ( ir, Coláiste Alexandra) is a fee-charging boarding and day school for girls located in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos. History The school was founded in 1866 and takes its ...

but did not go to university. In 1914, she moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to join her brother, a doctor in the city. In 1921, as Mary Latchford Kingsmill Jones, she was elected to

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

, representing the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, having adopted her late brother (Kingsmill)'s name. Jones served on council committees, and represented the council on external bodies. At both the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

and

1929 United Kingdom general election The 1929 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 30 May 1929 and resulted in a hung parliament. It stands as the fourth of six instances under the secret ballot, and the first of three under universal suffrage, in which a party ha ...

s, she stood in Manchester Ardwick, taking second place each time. In 1938, Jones became an

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 ...

, and the same year was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. From 1947 to 1949, she served as

, the first woman to hold the post. During her term

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

won the FA Cup and she welcomed the winning team back to the city. She also conferred the freedom of the city on

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. At the end of her term, she was promoted to become a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE). A painting paid for by fifty women's groups was commissioned. In 1958, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). She retired from the council in 1966 and was made an honorary alderman the following year.

Death

Dame Mary Latchford Kingsmill Jones died at her home in Manchester on 2 April 1968, aged 90.

Honours

* Honorary

Freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

of Manchester in 1956. *

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE) in 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Mary Latchford 1877 births 1968 deaths Conservative Party (UK) councillors Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Mayors of Manchester People educated at Alexandra College Politicians from Dublin (city) Women mayors of places in England Women councillors in England Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English justices of the peace