1942-1944, William Kearney, Mayor of Leigh

1942-1944, William Kearney, Mayor of Leigh

William Kearney was a two-term wartime mayor who made a major contribution to improving maternity care in the borough.

Although born and raised in Bolton, he spent most of his adult life in Leigh, where he gave 42 years of public service. A spinner in the early years of his working life when he became a prominent member of the trades union movement , he was a victim of the decline of the cotton industry and had a spell on the dole before starting what became a successful confectionary business in King Street.

William Kearney started work at Butts Mill, where he became a shop steward and president of the Leigh Branch of the Operative Spinners Association – a position he held for many years. He represented his union on the Leigh Trades and Labour Council and was instrumental in influencing the policy of that body.

Elected a member of Leigh Borough Council for St Joseph’s Ward in 1927, he served as councillor and alderman for almost 42 years until his retirement in 1968. He became a magistrate in 1938.

Among his many positions on the council, he was chairman of the Highways Committee and chairman of the Maternity and Child Welfare Committee - a role in which he made perhaps his greatest contribution to municipal life.

The creation of a maternity home and the establishment of clinical services for mothers and children were among the committee’s finest achievements. In fact many believe that if the Second World War had not intervened, William Kearney’s dream of making Leigh Maternity Home one of the finest in the country would have been recognised.

Nevertheless, he was proud of what was achieved by the committee. Maternity mortality rates in the country were at alarming levels at the time and the government decided something had to be done to improve conditions – a policy which was embraced enthusiastically by Councillor Kearney’s committee.

As its 33^rd mayor, he was also determined to see the council lay the foundations for post-war recovery and believed spending money for the future benefit of the country would eventually reap rewards. To that end he urged his fellow councillors to invest more in housing, explaining that when the war was over and large numbers of men who had married during the conflict or who were planning to marry on their return would greatly increase demand for homes.

Accepting his appointment to the office, he said: “We have no right to expect people to go out and fight and come back to lodgings. Many marriages are ruined at the start through young couples not having a place of their own. I hope some arrangements will be made to provide houses for young people.”

Such was his success in 1942-43 that he was re-elected for a second term in November 1943.

A religious man, William Kearney was an active worker in the parochial life of Sacred Heart Church and it as a member of the debating society of the Sacred Heart branch of the CYMS that he learned the art of public speaking, at which he became an accomplished performer.

He died in Torquay in 1970, leaving a wife and daughter. He was buried following a requiem mass at Sacred Heart Church.

Written by Gordon Sharrock

References

Biographical cuttings – William Kearney, available at Leigh Local Studies.