Violet Hardisty Grantham (15 February 1893 – 20 May 1983) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

politician, the first woman to serve as Sheriff of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and

Lord Mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne This is a list of mayors and the later lord mayors of the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the United Kingdom. Newcastle had elected a mayor annually since 1216. The city was awarded the dignity of a lord mayoralty by letters patent dated 27 Jul ...

. Born Violet Hardisty Taylor in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

on 15 February 1893, the second of three children born to Thomas Taylor, a

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

St Cuthbert's High School St Cuthbert's Catholic High School (formerly St Cuthbert's Catholic Grammar School) is a boys-only Roman Catholic secondary school with academy status located on Gretna Road in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Admissions St Cuthbert's is a seven- ...

, and Sarah Taylor (née McKelvie), formerly a

pupil-teacher Pupil teacher was a training program in wide use before the twentieth century, as an apprentice system for teachers. With the emergence in the beginning of the nineteenth century of education for the masses, demand for teachers increased. By 1840, ...

. She was educated privately and married John Grantham in 1924. Her husband, a cinema proprietor, was elected to

Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local authority for the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear in North East England. Newcastle has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. ...

in 1912, later holding the titles of Sheriff of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1924-1925 and

in 1936-37 respectively. In addition to being his Lady Mayoress, Violet served on the boards of a number of local organisations and in 1937 she was elected to Newcastle City Council in her own right, representing the Conservative Party. In 1950 she became the first woman to serve as Sheriff of Newcastle-upon-Tyne later being elected as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of Newcastle City Council in 1952, being the first woman elected to serve as Lord Mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1956, Violet briefly held this post again due to the death of Aaron Curry. She again became an elected councillor in 1958 and was granted Honorary Freedom of the City in 1966, serving until the reorganisation of local government in 1974, when she retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grantham, Violet 1893 births 1983 deaths Conservative Party (UK) councillors Mayors of Newcastle upon Tyne Women councillors in England Women mayors of places in England