Gladys Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx (; 12 January 19166 June 2018) was an English poet and the wife of

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, who twice served as British prime minister. She was the first British prime minister's spouse to become a centenarian, living to the age of .

Life

Gladys Mary Baldwin was born in Diss, Norfolk, the daughter of the Reverend Daniel Baldwin, who was a Congregationalist minister. She attended boarding school at Milton Mount College near

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

, leaving aged 16 to attend a secretarial course for two years. She was employed as a stenographer at Lever Brothers in Port Sunlight before marrying

on New Year's Day 1940 at Mansfield College, Oxford. Baldwin and Wilson had two sons,

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

(born 1943) and Giles (born 1948). In 1970, her volume of poetry ''Selected Poems'' was published, and, in 1976, Mary Wilson was one of three judges of the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

, the other judges being Walter Allen and

Francis King Francis Henry King (4 March 19233 July 2011) Ion Trewin and Jonathan Fryer"Obituary: Francis King" ''The Guardian'', 3 July 2011. was a British novelist and short story writer. He worked for the British Council for 15 years, with positions i ...

. According to the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' entry for Harold Wilson, written by

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

, Wilson was not satisfied with life in politics. It was this detachment which gave the ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

'' spoof " Mrs Wilson's Diary", the supposed diary of Wilson, written in the style of the BBC's daily radio serial '' Mrs Dale's Diary'', a spurious look of authenticity. Politically, she opposed her husband in the 1975 European Communities membership referendum by voting against continued membership and in her support for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Wilson was widowed on 24 May 1995 when her husband died of

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel m ...

and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

after ten years of illness. They were married for 55 years. She continued to live in Westminster, a short distance from Downing Street. She retained the couple's holiday home in the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

. In 2010, at the age of 94, she attended the funeral of Michael Foot. Three years later, at the age of 97, she accepted an invitation to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher.

Death

Wilson died after a stroke at

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

in London on 6 June 2018, at the age of 102, having outlived her husband by 23 years. The longest-lived spouse of a British prime minister, she was the first to live beyond the age of 100 years. A private service followed by cremation took place on mainland Britain, and her ashes were buried with her husband at Old Town Churchyard in St Mary's, Isles of Scilly.

Publications

* * *

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Mary 1916 births 2018 deaths 20th-century English poets 20th-century English women writers British anti–nuclear weapons activists Wilson of Rievaulx English centenarians English women poets People from Diss, Norfolk Spouses of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Spouses of life peers Harold Wilson British women centenarians