Mary Whitmore

Mary Whitmore was an Ipswich suffragette, socialist and for many years a politician. Her interest in politics started with the suffragette movement, when the Ipswich branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union was formed.

She became a Labour Councillor in 1930 and Ipswich’s first woman Mayor in 1946. She was one of the founder members of the local Workers Education Association. At a civic function in 1948, she warmly welcomed people who had recently arrived from the Caribbean to the town. Mary Whitmore was awarded the MBE in 1951 for her contribution to public services in Ipswich.

The Blue Plaque on front of Town Hall, Ipswich was unveiled on 8th October 2016 by members of the Ipswich Women’s Festival Group that aims to research and celebrate local women’s achievements, organising events and developing resources.

The Group started in the 1980s when it held various women’s festivals in the town. It built on the work done by a Community Education Local Women’s History Group in the 1990s, which compiled the first leaflet, and held an exhibition of Women and Work.

In 2011, the group decided to celebrate the centenary of the Census Boycott, when thirty local women avoided completing their Census forms by staying at the Old Museum Rooms overnight in a campaign to get Votes for Women. Almost 150 women came to the site of that action (now Arlington’s Brasserie) for dinner, talks and singing.