Blue plaques – Wakefield Civic Society

On Tuesday, 12^th November, Wakefield Civic Society unveiled its latest blue plaque.

The new plaque commemorates the life and achievements of Mabel Lucy Matthews (nee Hanlon), who was born on 25^th May 1879 in the family home at Elm Street, College Grove, Wakefield.

The plaque was unveiled at an event organised by Wakefield Historical Society at the West Yorkshire History Centre where guest speakers Professor Graeme Gooday and Dr Katie Carpenter, both from the University of Leeds, shared their research into Matthews’ achievements and the history of the UK’s Electrical Association for Women, which was founded in November 1924 having been proposed initially by Matthews.

Mabel Lucy Matthews, nee Hanlon, started life in Wakefield before moving with her family to Cheshire. In 1901, she married Richard Matthews but was widowed in 1909. During World War I, she worked for a paper maker’s engineering company.

In the 1920s, Matthews worked in the electrical department of the Consolidated Pneumatic Tool Company Ltd and became an expert on electric drills. In 1922, she delivered a lecture on electric drills to the Women’s Engineering Society, of which she was an associate member. She went on to become Managing Director of the company at a time when it was unusual for women to be employed in engineering jobs as many companies had looked to employ men returning from the war during the 1920s.

Matthews had recognised the importance of domestic electricity and how it would transform the lives of women in the home. She also realised that householders, and particularly women, would need to be informed and reassured about the safety of domestic electricity supply and the electrical appliances.

Matthews suggested the creation of an electrical association for women to the Institution of Electrical Engineers. As well as promoting the use of domestic electricity, the proposed association would also help to create jobs for women across the industry. However, the suggestion was rejected.

A similar suggestion made to the Women’s Engineering Society proved more fruitful and, on 12^th November 1924, an initial meeting of what would become the Electrical Association for Women (EAW), was held in London. The meeting was attended by many women’s organisations, including the Girl Guides, the National Union of Teachers and the Headmistresses’ Association. The EAW set up branches around the country – with a Leeds and West Riding branch being formed in 1928 and a Wakefield branch in 1953.

Matthews died in 1970.

The unveiling event marked, to the day, the centenary of the founding of the UK’s Electrical Association for Women (EAW) on 12^th November 1924 and is part of a wider celebration of women’s roles in energy: Electric Dreams – a Festival of Womanpower.

Professor Gooday and Dr Carpenter commented “The Electrical Association for Women and its parent organisation, the Women’s Engineering Society were incredibly important for supporting women’s work in electrical engineering from the interwar period. This was a vital time for developing women’s rights and employment opportunities after some women received the vote for the first time in 1918. We are delighted that Mabel Matthews’ role in establishing this ground-breaking organisation is being recognised with this blue plaque”.

Kevin Trickett, President of Wakefield Civic Society, said “We were delighted to receive a nomination to erect a blue plaque to Mabel Lucy Matthews. Women are underrepresented in blue plaques nationally yet have played such an important part in shaping society, taking on increasingly prominent roles, particularly from the late 19^th and early 20^th century onwards, and we hope to receive more nominations in the future. However, receiving a nomination is one thing – finding the funds to cover the cost of the plaque and gaining permission to erect the plaque on a suitable building are also key parts of the process. I am grateful to Dr Phil Judkins, Secretary of Wakefield Historical Society and also a member of Wakefield Civic Society, for making a generous donation to cover the cost of this plaque. The plaque will be erected on Lightwaves Leisure and Community Centre on York Street, which overlooks the site where the houses on Elm Street used to stand. I would like to thank the Lightwaves trustees for giving permission for the plaque to go on their building.”

Dr Judkins added “Despite many advances, women today still have not complete equality. Imagine the challenges a century ago when Mabel was born in modest circumstances here in Wakefield! Through work and determination, she succeeded in the man’s world of engineering and helped make home and workplaces both safer and more equal for all – a magnificent legacy!”

Photo shows Wakefield Civic Society Blue Plaque to Mabel Lucy Matthews.

The text on the plaque is:

Mabel Lucy Matthews (nee Hanlon)
(1879-1970)
Electrical engineer

Born near here at elm street, she was the manager of the Consolidated Pneumatic Tool Co Ltd and an associate of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Helped to Popularise the use of domestic electricity and was the
Originator of the Electrical Association for women
established in 1924. — Left to Right: Pam Judkins, President of Wakefield Historical Society; Kevin Trickett MBE, President of Wakefield Civic Society, Dr Katie Carpenter, Lecturer in Public History, Leeds University; and Professor Graeme Gooday, Professor of History of Science & Technology, Leeds University.

On Saturday, 24^th September, Wakefield Civic Society unveiled a blue plaque to commemorate the life and work of Wakefield’s first female Mayor, Councillor Fanny Stott. The plaque was unveiled by the current Mayor of Wakefield, Councillor David Jones, at a garden party held in the grounds of the Stott family’s former home, Grove House, College Grove Road, Wakefield.

Fanny Stott – biography

Fanny Stott and her daughter Betty. Photo courtesy of Betty’s son, Charles Senior

Fanny Wordsworth Stott (1882-1961), born Fanny Wordsworth Haslegrave, was the daughter of Wakefield corn mill owner Joseph Haslegrave and his wife Fanny Wordsworth.

Joseph Haslegrave was a partner in the corn milling firm of Reynolds, Stott and Haslegrave Ltd, who had the West Riding and King’s Mills on the banks of the River Calder in Wakefield – close to where the Hepworth Gallery is today. Joseph Haslegrave was himself Mayor of Wakefield from 1890-91.

The family originally lived at Dirtcar (Durkar today) but had moved to Manygates House at Sandal by 1881, where Fanny was born, and to Stanley Hall by the time of the 1891 census.

Originally training as a nurse, Fanny married Edwin Percival Stott in July 1914 at Sandal Church – Stott was also a corn miller. Three years later in 1917, their daughter, Ida Elizabeth Stott, known as Betty Stott, was born.

In 1929, Mrs Stott was elected as a Conservative councillor for the Eastmoor and St John’s Ward. In recognition of her work for the city, in 1938, Mrs Stott was elected to the aldermanic bench, becoming Alderman Stott and then, in 1939, she became a JP.

On becoming the Mayor in November 1940, she asked her daughter Betty to act as her Mayoress – and at the age of just 23, Betty was to be the city’s youngest ever Mayoress.

Mrs Stott sat on many committees associated with her concerns for welfare, including the Yorkshire branch of the Women’s Advisory Housing Council, the Bede Home for Boys, the St John’s Home for Girls, the Victoria Nursing Association, the Clayton Hospital Ladies Linen League, the West Riding Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society and the Social Service Council. She was also Chairman of the Wakefield branch of the Civil and Auxiliary Nursing Reserve, Vice President of the Wakefield Soroptimist Club, President of the local branch of the College of Nursing, and President of the Wakefield, Pontefract and Knottingley branch of the NSPCC.

In addition to the above responsibilities, Mrs Stott was also a member of the Board of Governors of Wakefield Charities and had been President of the Women’s section of the British Legion.

She was also associated with a number of charitable causes. She raised money for people affected by the Blitz in London and, closer to home, people who had been bereaved in the Crigglestone Colliery disaster of July 1941 when over 20 men were killed. As well as attending many charitable events, she also used the garden of her family home at Grove House for events to raise funds.

Fanny Stott died in 1961. By then, she was living at Barnsley Road, Sandal.

The Blue Plaque

Wakefield Civic Society Blue Plaque to Fanny Stott

The nomination for the blue plaque was made by David and Eleanor Woollin. The Woollins purchased Grove House from the Council in 2020.

The house was originally designed and built for a Wakefield-based woollen draper by the name of Thomas Boston. Boston moved in when the house was completed in June 1877. Within a couple of weeks of moving in, Thomas unfortunately died, due to suffocation caused by inhaling toxic fumes which has escaped from the conservatory flue and into the bedroom.

In 1921, Grove House was occupied by the Stott family – Edwin Percy Stott, his wife Fanny and 3 servants.

In 1952 Grove House was sold to Wakefield Council for £3,900. They originally converted the property into flats where they housed Wakefield Council staff, and then more recently it was converted to an assisted-living care-home.

After 70 years of ownership, in 2020, Wakefield Council sold the property to the Woollins – they hadn’t moved far having lived just across the road, but they had to save Grove House from potential developers when it came onto the market. Having acquired the property, they started refurbishing the house and converting it back into a family home. They also undertook some research into the property’s history and it was then that they discovered the connection with Fanny Stott. They were so impressed with Fanny’s story that they decided to nominate her for a blue plaque and offered to donate funds to Wakefield Civic Society to cover the cost of the plaque.

However, rather than just unveiling a plaque, the Woollins wanted to continue Fanny’s earlier tradition of using the property’s garden to raise funds for a good cause and they decided to host a garden party which was attended by more than 50 people, including the Mayor and Mayoress of Wakefield and members of Wakefield Civic Society. Fanny Stott’s grandson (Betty’s son) Charles Senior also attended the event with members of his family.

Garden Party Guests – Photo by Shaun Walker

The event was very successful and over £750 was raised for charity. David and Eleanor have decided to donate the money to one of the current Mayor’s charities – the Dr Jackson Cancer Fund.

In addition to the cash donation, the Woollins had booked Wakefield’s tinyIDEA to provide pizzas for garden party guests. tinyIDEA use their proceeds to help alleviate food poverty in the Wakefield District.

Speaking at the event, Wakefield Civic Society President Kevin Trickett congratulated David and Eleanor on organising the event and thanked them for their donation to the Society to cover the cost of the plaque, which would be the 71^st plaque unveiled by the Society. He also pointed out that the work David and Eleanor had done to refurbish the house made a refreshing change showing how Victorian properties could be brought back to life as family homes and preserved for future generations to enjoy rather than being demolished and replaced with rather anodyne modern houses.

The Mayor of Wakefield, Councillor David Jones also thanked David and Eleanor for their hospitality and support for the Mayor’s Charities. The Mayor drew attention to the efforts of his predecessor in raising funds for good causes, ‘cadging’ as Fanny used to call it, and mentioned some of the more unusual moments from Fanny’s life, including the time in September 1941 when she drove a tank into Wakefield from several miles outside the city right into the city centre while her daughter Betty, as Mayoress, followed behind in a second tank. Many thousands of people lined the route to cheer the procession made up of tanks from an army unit that was visiting Wakefield for four days. Fanny said how much she enjoyed ‘skidding round the corners’ – once she got used to it!

Category: Blue plaques

New Civic Society Blue Plaque Commemorates Wakefield-born Female Engineer, Mabel Lucy Matthews

Blue plaque to Wakefield’s first female Mayor unveiled