Mary Ethel Salisbury (1917 – 27 October 2008), previously Mary Ethel Wilkinson, was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Labour politician in

Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire in South West England, and has its headquarters at County Hall in Trowbridge. Since 2009 it has bee ...

, serving for three years as its first woman Chairman.

Life

Born in 1917 in a mining village in

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, one of six children, she began life as Mary Wilkinson and in 1928 won a scholarship to

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

County School for Girls. She later trained as a nurse.OBITUARY: Mrs Mary Salisbury
''Wiltshire Times'', 6 November 2008 During the Second World War she was a nurse at

Battle Hospital Battle Hospital was a National Health Service hospital in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The hospital was located on a large site between Oxford Road and Portman Road, in West Reading. History Battle Hospital began its ...

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

, where she met and in 1942 married Bob Salisbury. They moved to

Melksham Melksham () is a town and civil parish on the Bristol Avon, River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. The parish population was 18,113 at the 2021 census. History Early history Excavations in ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, in 1947 and joined the local Labour Party soon after that. In 1954, Salisbury was elected to Melksham Urban District Council, and later to

. In 1960 she became a Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire. In 1982 she was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

for services to local government, and in January 1983 was

Gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

a Deputy Lieutenant for

, together with Lord Margadale. She was also a member of the Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee. When the Conservatives lost control of Wiltshire County Council at the 1985 elections, resulting in a

hung council In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom no overall control (NOC; ) is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for electi ...

, Salisbury commented to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' that there was virtually nothing which she opposed in

Jack Ainslie John Bernard Ainslie OBE (2 August 1921 – 5 January 2007), known as Jack Ainslie, was a Wiltshire farmer and Liberal politician, Chairman of Wiltshire County Council from 1986 to 1990. Early life Born at Stanmore, Middlesex, on 2 August 1921 ...

's plan for a new Liberal-SDP administration and almost nothing on which she agreed with the defeated Conservatives. "Where the Liberals put forward measures which seem to be beneficial to the people of Wiltshire, we will support them", she said. With the council remaining hung, she went on to become the first woman Chairman of Council, holding that office from 1989 until 1992. She was a member of the county council for thirty-eight years, and was also a member of the Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority, standing down from both in 2001. She died at the age of ninety on 27 October 2008, and a service of thanksgiving for her life was held at St Michael and All Angels Church, Melksham, in December 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salisbury, Mary 1917 births 2008 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy lieutenants of Wiltshire English justices of the peace English nurses Labour Party (UK) councillors People from County Durham (district) People from Melksham Female wartime nurses Members of Wiltshire County Council World War II nurses Women councillors in England

Life

See also

References