Enid Anne Hattersley (''née'' Brackenbury; previously O'Hara; 19 September 1904 – 17 May 2001) was a Labour Party politician from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England, who became the city's

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

in 1981.

Early years

Hattersley was born in

Shirebrook Shirebrook is a town and civil parish in the Bolsover District of Derbyshire, England.OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: (1:25 000): It had a population of 13,300 at the 2021 Census. The town is on the B6407 road and close to the A632 road ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, the daughter of a

coal merchant A coal merchant is the term used in the UK and other countries for a trader who sells coal and often delivers it to households. Coal merchants were once a major class of local business, but have declined in importance in many parts of the developed ...

. She was a Labour Party activist from an early age, securing her membership card at the age of 14. She managed the household for her invalid mother until she married her first husband, a miner named John O'Hara. When she was 27, Father Frederick Hattersley (known as Roy, his second name), a Roman Catholic priest who was possibly from a

recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

family came to order the winter's coal for his presbytery. They fell in love in spite of his clerical vocation.Enid Hattersley obituary in ''The Telegraph''
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Marriage

Once widowed when her first husband died, Enid O'Hara married Frederick Hattersley, who had left his vocation as a Catholic priest to maintain a relationship with her. By 1932 they had moved to

. Their only son would become the noted Labour Party politician, writer and life peer Lord Hattersley of Sparkbrook. Frederick Hattersley died in 1973.

Political career

She spent some two decades on Sheffield's Libraries and Arts Committee (as Chair from 1968 to 1980). She also served four years on South Yorkshire County Council and was chairperson of governing Sheffield's first comprehensive school. She oversaw the creation of the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

in Sheffield. In 1979, as chairman of the Yorkshire Museums Service, she helped persuade the fiscally struggling nearby

Kirklees Council Kirklees Council, also known as Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. As a metropolitan borough council it provides the majority of local government ser ...

not to sell off artwork by

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

and

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

. In 1981, she was installed as

Lord Mayor of Sheffield The Lord Mayor of Sheffield is a ceremonial post held by a member of Sheffield City Council. They are elected annually by the council. The post originated in 1843, with the appointment of William Jeffcock as the first Mayor of Sheffield. ...

Falklands War

She would help rally the city when sank during the 1982

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

and she led memorials and fund-raising for the families of those killed and wounded. The

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

set up in response its own South Atlantic Fund.Enid Hattersley obituary in ''The Guardian''
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Legacy

She was credited by ''The Telegraph'' for her contributions to Sheffield, specifically by helping "turn the city from one of England's grimiest cities into a modern industrial centre …as chairman of the Libraries and Arts Committee, she developed the city's museums and art galleries to the point where they gained an international reputation".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hattersley, Enid 1904 births 2001 deaths English activists English women activists Lord mayors of Sheffield People from Shirebrook Labour Party (UK) councillors Women councillors in England Women mayors of places in England