Dorothy Mary Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Lymington (''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 Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

(1983–84). Born at Wickham,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, 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, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

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. City of London Corporation elections , Elections are held at least eve ...

, and became the first female

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

in 1975, the first female

Sheriff of the City of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

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 Unite ...

'') 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 Ind ...

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 British barrister and judge who served as Master of the Rolls for ten years, from 1982 to 1992. He was the first (and only) President of the short-l ...

, 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 ...

(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