Lucy Annie Middleton (1894-1983) Elected Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton in July 1945, in succession to Nancy Astor, she was one of only 24 women elected to the Commons that year. She retained the seat until 1951, when succeeded by Jakie Astor. She was an influential… Read More »Lucy Annie Middleton
Mrs Laura McClure (neé Ellicott) (1913-1996) She was the first woman councillor for Friary Ward, and, at the time, the youngest councillor then elected. Like her mother, Laura Ellicott, she was a Conservative, and prominent in the Young Conservatives in Plymouth, and was mentored by Nancy Astor. When first… Read More »Laura McClure (neé Ellicott)
Jacquetta Marshall (1878- The first female Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Mrs Jacquetta Marshall was appointed Alderman in 1950, and served as Lord Mayor 1950-1951. In her youth, she had been a suffragist, and a member of the NUWSS. A lifelong Labour and Co-operative supporter, she had joined… Read More »Jacquetta Marshall
Bessie LeCras She lived in the Barbican, and was a member of the WSPU – making her a suffragette – in the years between 1910 and 1918. LeCras was one of the leading figures in persuading Nancy Astor to stand for election as MP for Plymouth Sutton, she… Read More »Bessie LeCras
Dorothy F. Walrond Innes (1905-1981) Alderman Dorothy F. W. Innes was the second female Lord Mayor of Plymouth, elected in 1971. A State Registered Nurse (SRN), she had served with the Civil Nursing Reserve during WW2, acting as organiser for the civil nursing staff of the… Read More »Dorothy F. Walrond Innes
Linda Gilroy (1949- present) Born Linda Jarvie, and briefly at school in Exeter as a child, then moving to Scotland for the rest of her education, she returned to the South West in 1979, as a regional manager for the Gas Consumer Council. She served as… Read More »Linda Gilroy
Wendy Foster Wendy is a Plymouth-born nurse, who became a Councillor for the Plymstock Radford ward in 2000. She was Lady Mayoress to her second husband, Ken Foster, when he was Lord Mayor 2009-2010, and then Lord Mayor herself in 2017-2018.
Janet Fookes (1936 to present) Elected Conservative MP for Plymouth Drake in 1974, she held the seat until 1997, when the constituency was abolished. Her political career included a period as Deputy Speaker of the House, 1992-97. Plymouth Drake was never a safe seat, but her… Read More »Janet Fookes
Alderman Eileen Evans (1926-2009) She was the first woman to be Lady Mayoress and then in her own right, Lord Mayor. Eileen Evans was Plymouth born, serving as an ARP Messenger in WW2 while still at school (Plymouth High School for Girls) and later was a… Read More »Eileen Evans
Mrs Laura Ellicott (1890-1959) She was a shop proprietor in the Barbican, and a long-standing Conservative Party member, acting as the Honorary Secretary of the Sutton Ward Conservative Association from 1939, and Chairman in 1946, becoming Chairman of the Sutton Ward Women’s Conservative Association in 1948.… Read More »Laura Ellicott