Mary Whitmore
Plaque commemorating Mary Whitmore, Mayor's Walk, Christchurch Park
Born(1884-09-17)September 17, 1884
DiedJuly 19, 1974(1974-07-19) (aged 89)
OccupationTeacher
Mayor of Ipswich
In office
January 1946 – 1947

Mary Whitmore (née Fletcher) (17 September 1884 – 19 July 1974) was a social activist who was the first woman to be Mayor of Ipswich, in 1946–47.

Early life

Whitmore was born Mary Fletcher in 1884 in Whitton, Suffolk, to Isaac Fletcher and his wife Rosetta (née Elliott).[1] She won a scholarship to Ipswich Higher Grade School in 1895.[2] By 1901 she was a pupil teacher at a board school. She later trained as a teacher at Whitelands College.[2][3]

Career

Whitmore was a suffragette, and was a founder member of the Ipswich branch of the Women's Social and Political Union.[4] She was a founder member of the Ipswich Workers' Educational Association, and was its secretary from 1929 to 1939.[4]

She was elected a Labour Councillor in 1930.[4] She was Mayor of Ipswich in 1946–47, and was the first woman to hold the post.[5]

For many years she taught at Nacton Road Mixed School.[3]

She was awarded MBE in the 1951 Birthday Honours for her contribution to public service.[4]

An Ipswich Society blue plaque was installed on Ipswich Town Hall in 2016.[6][7]

Personal life

Whitmore married James Offer William Whitmore (1882-1944) in 1922.[8] He had previously been married to Eva Martha Pryke (1883-1920).[9] Mary and James had one daughter, Enid (1923-2016),[10][11][2] who married a clergyman, Trevor Howard.[12]

Whitmore died in 1974, aged 89, at the Rectory at Belchamp Otten, in Essex;[13] her son-in-law, Canon Trevor Howard, was Rector of St Ethelbert & All Saints, Belchamp Otten, 1959–93.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Ipswich Registry Office, December 1884 quarter, Vol 4a, page 770.
  2. 1 2 3 "Curious Fox: Whitton". Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Lives of Ipswich Women". Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Ipswich Women: Mary Whitmore". Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "Ipswich Council: Mayors of Ipswich". Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Ipswich Lettering: Plaques". Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  7. ↑ "Ipswich Star: "Former Ipswich mayor Mary Whitmore to be honoured with blue plaque on Town Hall", 31 May 2016". Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  8. ↑ Samford Registry Office, December 1922 quarter, Vol 4a, page 2302a.
  9. ↑ Ipswich Registry Office, September 1909 quarter, Vol 4a, page 2052.
  10. ↑ Ipswich Registry Office, December 1923 quarter, Vol 4a, page 1676.
  11. ↑ "Find A Grave: Enid Howard". Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  12. ↑ Colchester Registry Office, September 1943 quarter, Vol 4a, page 1955.
  13. ↑ National Probate Calendar, 1974, p 9652.
  14. ↑ "Crockford's Clerical Directory: Canon Ronald Trevor Howard". Retrieved 7 February 2021.
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