Mary Whitmore (née Fletcher) (17 September 1884 – 19 July 1974) was a social activist who was the first woman to be

Mayor of Ipswich Ipswich was created a Borough in 1200 by charter of King John.Text of charter (translated into English) and image of 1200 Town Seal, see Wodderspoon, J., ''Memorials of the Ancient Town of Ipswich'' (Pawsey (Ipswich): Longman, Brown, Green & Lon ...

, in 1946–47.

Early life

Whitmore was born Mary Fletcher in 1884 in Whitton, Suffolk, to Isaac Fletcher and his wife Rosetta (née Elliott). She won a scholarship to Ipswich Higher Grade School in 1895. By 1901 she was a pupil teacher at a board school. She later trained as a teacher at

Whitelands College Whitelands College is the oldest of the four constituent colleges of the University of Roehampton. History Whitelands College is one of the oldest higher education institutions in England (predating every university except Oxford, Cambridge, Lo ...

Career

Whitmore was a

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

, and was a founder member of the Ipswich branch of the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and ...

. She was a founder member of the Ipswich

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

, and was its secretary from 1929 to 1939. She was elected a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Councillor in 1930. She was Mayor of Ipswich in 1946–47, and was the first woman to hold the post. For many years she taught at Nacton Road Mixed School. She was awarded

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in the

1951 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1951 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the o ...

for her contribution to public service. An Ipswich Society

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

was installed on

Ipswich Town Hall Ipswich Town Hall is a municipal building in Ipswich, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is a Grade II listed building. History The first town hall had its origins in a chapel dedicated to St Mildrith which had been converted into a civic ...

in 2016.

Personal life

Whitmore married James Offer William Whitmore (1882-1944) in 1922. He had previously been married to Eva Martha Pryke (1883-1920). Mary and James had one daughter, Enid (1923-2016), who married a clergyman, Trevor Howard. Whitmore died in 1974, aged 89, at the Rectory at

Belchamp Otten Belchamp Otten is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located approximately west of Sudbury, Suffolk and is north-northeast from the county town of Chelmsford. It is near Belchamp St Paul and Belchamp Walter Belchamp Walter i ...

, in Essex; her son-in-law, Canon Trevor Howard, was Rector of St Ethelbert & All Saints,

, 1959–93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitmore, Mary 1884 births Mayors of Ipswich, Suffolk 1974 deaths Women mayors of places in England