Miriam Lightowler JP OBE born Miriam Butler (29 June 1875 – 19 June 1958) was a local politician and mayor of Halifax. She raised money for a replacement holiday home and she broke a number of firsts including first woman to be mayor or to be a member of Halifax's

board of guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

Life

Lightowler was born in Halifax in 1875. Her mother was Elizabeth (born Mitchell) and her father, James Ryder Butler. He was the founder of the Butler Machine Tool Company Ltd which employed 500 people. She attended Holy Trinity School and then Cliff House in Harrogate. She was a Methodist all her life and she got her first experoence of politics in her churches leaders meeting. Her father was a liberal and her mother was not allowed to vote. In 1896 she married Henry Charles Lightowler who sold carpets and furnished churches. In 1913 not every man had the vote and no woman did. Women were being allowed to take on some positions and in 1913 she elected as the first conservative woman to serve on the poor-law union

that met in Halifax's St John's Hospital. Her husband suddenly died in 1918 two weeks after he was appointed to direct the National Kitchens Division (with few qualifications apart from his gender). She and her son became directors of the family company. Cartoon of appeal Deputy Mayor Miriam Lightowl

Cartoon of appeal Deputy Mayor Miriam Lightowl

In 1928 every woman in Britain was allowed to vote and Lightowler was elected to be the chair of the board of guardians. In the following year she ceremonially started a new clock in motion and the clock was named after her. The guardians became the

public assistance committee A Public Assistance Committee (PAC), in the UK, was a body locally created after the abolition of the boards of guardians in 1930 by the Local Government Act 1929, when their powers and responsibilities for poor relief were passed to county and co ...

and she retained the chair. In 1924 she was elected as the only candidate for Halifax's south ward. She was her town's first women councillor. In 1934 she was invited to become Halifax's first woman mayor. Her daughter in law, Edith Mary Lightowler, served as the mayoress and she was called "Mr Mayor". During her year she launched an appeal for Halifax to have a new replacement holiday home for children at Norland. Her appeal broke records when it raised £3,000 in eight weeks. It was assisted by her appeal on BBC radio for the "week's good cause" in Feb 1936 when she was deputy mayor. Her appeal itself was advertised with a cartoon of her in the local paper. Miriam_Lightowler_and_the_turntable_ladder_named_for_her_in_Halifax

Miriam_Lightowler_and_the_turntable_ladder_named_for_her_in_Halifax

In 1935 she had been made an alderman and he was given a

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

. In 1938 she was given an OBE for her services to Halifax. Lightowler retired in 1950 and she died in Halifax in 1958. Her funeral was attended by a 100-foot turntable ladder that had been named after her by the local fire service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lightowler, Miriam 1875 births 1958 deaths People from Halifax, West Yorkshire Women councillors in England Mayors of Halifax, West Yorkshire