Eleanor Kathleen Goodrich

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(1888 – 1988) was a British politician and activist. Born in Clapton, as Eleanor Kathleen Harslett, her father was a stage manager, and both of her parents were close friends with

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the Cabinet as a member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minist ...

. She became a suffragette and a teacher, active in the

National Union of Women Teachers The National Union of Women Teachers (NUWT) was a trade union representing women schoolteachers in Great Britain. It originated in 1904 as a campaign for equal pay for equal work, and dissolved in 1961, when this was achieved. History Women te ...

. In 1934, Goodrich was elected for the Labour Party to the council of the

Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth The Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, Metropolitan borough under the London County Council, from 1900 to 1965. History The borough was formed from five civil parishes in England, civil parish ...

, one of the first party members to win a seat in the borough. She won a seat in Balham and Tooting at the

1946 London County Council election An election to the County Council of London took place on 7 March 1946. The council was elected by First Past the Post with each elector having two votes in the two-member seats. The Labour Party once more made gains, again increasing their ma ...

. From 1947 until 1949, she also served as Mayor of Wandsworth, the first woman from the Labour Party to hold the post. The Balham and Tooting constituency was abolished for the 1949 London County Council election, and Goodrich instead stood unsuccessfully in Wandsworth Central (London County Council constituency), Wandsworth Central. Despite this defeat, she was appointed to serve on the council's education committee. In the 1951 New Year Honours, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Goodrich contested Wandsworth Central again at the 1952 London County Council election, winning a seat, but she lost it again in 1955 London County Council election, 1955. She was instead appointed as an alderman, and in 1958/1959, served as vice-chair of the council. In the late 1960s, Goodrich helped establish the Putney Arts Theatre in its long-term venue. She died in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodrich, Eleanor 1888 births 1988 deaths British suffragettes English trade unionists Mayors of places in Greater London Members of London County Council Politicians from the London Borough of Hackney