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 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

, 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 town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, 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 populat ...

, leaving aged 16 to attend a secretarial course for two years. She was employed as a stenographer at

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...

in Port Sunlight before marrying

on New Year's Day 1940 at Mansfield College, Oxford. Baldwin and Wilson had two sons, Robin (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 other judges being Walter Allen and Francis King. 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, Wilson was not satisfied with life in politics. It was this detachment which gave the '' Private Eye'' 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 (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

after ten years of illness. They were married for 55 years. She continued to live in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, a short distance from

Downing Street Downing Street is a gated street in City of Westminster, Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In a cul-de-sac situated off Whiteh ...

. She retained the couple's holiday home in the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

. 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 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 St Mary's () is the largest and most populous island of the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off the southwest coast of Cornwall in England, United Kingdom. Description St Mary's has an area of — 40 percent of the total land area of the Isles ...

Publications

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References

External links

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