The members of the Society were given a talk on the Lady Lord Mayors of Norwich by Phyllida Scrivens who had delved into the history books to find the life stories of the ladies who had been lord Mayor of Norwich. There have been only 17 in the history of Norwich of whom 9 are still alive and were able to give their life history both before and after their political involvement with the City Council.
The first Lady Mayor was Ethel Colman in 1923 which was the first appointment for a woman in any Council in Great Britain. She was the daughter of the Colman Mustard family. There have only been 16 others since with the last Lady Lord Mayor in 2016
The ladies came from quite diverse family backgrounds of poverty and wealth and from different parts of the country and one Lady lord mayor was born in Czechoslovakia They of course represented different political parties.
Phyllida bought the ladies to life through her research and interviews. Describing their impact on the residents of Norwich through holding this important office.
Phyllida made it a very interesting and enjoyable evening.
The Lady Lord Mayors were ;
Ethel COLMAN 1923 Mabel CLARKSON 1930 Ruth HARDY 1950
Jessie GRIFFITHS 1969 Joyce MORGAN 1975 Valerie GUTTSMAN 1979
Barbara STEVENSON 1985 Jill MILLER 1979 Brenda FERRIS RAMPLEY 1994
Lila COOPER 1995 Joyce DRIVER 2004 Felicity HARTLEY 2006
Eve COLLISHAW 2009 Jennifer LAY 2011 Judith LUBBOCK 2014
Brenda ARTHUR 2015 Marion MAXWELL 2016
The Annual party on Thursday 20th January is by ticket only and is now closed due to numbers and covid. Food served at 7pm
At the February meeting on the 17th We have Charles Lewis relating ”Nelson Norfolk Hero” It is also the date of the AGM of the Society
The two published book of “ Old Catton in the 20th Century” and “Historic Houses of Old Catton” are available at £3 each from Barry
Barry Leggett