Lady mayoress is an official female companion to the lord mayor of a major city in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, or a

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

of an Australian state. Traditionally this was the wife of a male mayor. It is not an elected office. Lady is used here as a title of respect. The lady mayoress accompanies the lord mayor to many events and in the past may also carry out engagements on her own. As an example, the Leeds Children's Charity states that "it has been the right of every new lady mayoress to become the president of the charity".

Variations

The lady mayoress was traditionally the wife of a male lord mayor. In a post-patriarchal society, a female mayor can choose any lady mayoress. Some mayors have chosen their daughter, mother, or another female relative. A male companion for a female mayor may be given the title of lord mayor's consort. When Jessie Beatrice Kitson was the first female lord mayor of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, West Yorkshire, England in 1942–1943, she chose her friend Elinor Gertrude Lupton as her lady mayoress. ''Image of Kitson and Lupton'' When Bernard Atha was lord mayor of

in 2000–2001, he selected 18 "high-profile, well-known Yorkshire women" to act in turn as his lady mayoress.

Australia

As a colonial outpost, as in the

, the lady mayoress of an Australian

is generally the wife of an elected lord mayor. A lady mayoress acts as a hostess for the city at official functions and sometimes acts as Chair of social and charitable committees. Where a woman is elected to the office of lord mayor, there is usually no lady mayoress. Although, during part of the time in office as lord mayor of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

of Sallyanne Atkinson, her mother served as lady mayoress. Atkinson's husband had served for a time as the president of the City of Brisbane Benefit Fund, a social and charitable organisation associated with the Brisbane City Council.

References

Women's social titles History of women in the United Kingdom {{UK-gov-stub