Mary Mercer
Mary Ann Mercer (1883 – 26 September 1945) was a British politician, who served as the first woman and first Labour Party Mayor of Birkenhead.
Personal life
[edit]Born in Newport, Shropshire, her father died when she was three. Despite her limited schooling, Mercer worked as a housekeeper,[1] trained as a nurse and then worked in Belfast as a district visitor. While there, she met and married a Labour Party activist and journalist in 1912. In 1914 they moved to the Wirral and had a family. She died in 1945 and is buried in Flaybrick cemetery, Birkenhead.
Political life
[edit]Mercer became active in the Labour Party (UK) when she moved to the Wirral.[2][3]
Mercer was elected to Birkenhead Town Council in 1919, representing Argyle ward.[2] In 1924, she was elected as Mayor of Birkenhead, the first woman to hold the post, and also the first Labour Party member to hold the post.[4][5] While in office, she unveiled Birkenhead War Memorial. She moved to become the town's first woman alderman in 1926, serving until 1932, when she returned to representing Argyle until 1945.[2]
Mercer stood in Liverpool Fairfield at the 1924 United Kingdom general election, taking second place with 37.1% of the vote. She next stood in Birkenhead East at the 1935 United Kingdom general election, when she took 23.3% of the vote, and only third place.[6][7]
Mercer also served as a magistrate from 1929.[4]
Legacy
[edit]
Mercer Road in Prenton (previously the local government Bidston and St James Ward) is named after her. She was commemorated in 2018 with a blue plaque on 103 Norman Street, Birkenhead where she once lived. A portrait of her as Mayor by Maude Hall Neale is displayed in the Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead.[2] In 2021 Mercer was included in a mural commissioned for the centre of Birkenhead, painted by artist Joseph Venning.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ Baldwin, Anne (2012). Progress and patterns in the election of women as councillors, 1918 – 1938 (PDF) (Doctoral Thesis ed.). University of Huddersfield. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d Hughes, Lorna (7 May 2018). "Honoured at last: the Wirral nurse who changed history for working-class women". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ Jones, Lauren (8 May 2018). "Blue plaque ceremony for Birkenhead's first female mayor". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ a b "In brief". Manchester Guardian. 28 September 1945.
- ^ "Seven women mayors". Manchester Guardian. 11 November 1924.
- ^ "In the constituencies". Manchester Guardian. 11 October 1924.
- ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 77, 177. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
- ^ Rand, Lisa (22 June 2021). "Building being transformed into 'heroes' timeline with huge mural". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 16 July 2021.