1972-1973, Ethel Naylor-Johnson, Mayor of Wigan

Ethel Naylor-Johnson

b1901 to d1991

First Woman Mayor of Wigan County Borough Council 1972 - 1973

A mill lass who became Wigan’s first citizen.

A woman who, in her own words, was a “bit of a rebel” but not a bra burning suffragette. Who stuck out for what she believed, her only concern being to help the people of Wigan.

Born in March 1902, the sixth of nine children of Thomas and Susannah Owen, Ethel spent her early years in Thompson Street, Whelley, Wigan, attending St Stephen’s School and would become a life-long member of St Stephen’s Church.

At the age of 14 years Ethel followed her sisters into the Mill. Rising at 4.15am to catch the train to Coppull Mill, were she worked until 5.30pm, with only a half-hour break for breakfast and an hour for lunch. Arriving home at 7pm there were household chores to finish before it was time for bed. This was the foundation of a life-time attitude to hard work that would gain the respect of all who knew her. Whilst he brought up his family with a typical Victorian rod of iron her father also had liberal views on the role of women that were advanced for his time. In 1923 Thomas and Sarah emigrated to America with Ethel’s sister, Elizabeth. In the same year Ethel married Joseph Naylor, a dataller, at St George’s Church in Wigan and they had two daughters.

For almost thirty years Ethel worked in the office and showroom at Mab’s Cross Garage and on the forecourt as Wigan’s first lady petrol pump attendant.

Thomas Owen was a miner and became secretary of the Miner’s Federation at Lindsay Pit. Encouraged by her father’s tales of labour pioneers, such as Kier Hardy and George Lansbury, and moved by the poverty and hardship faced by working people in the 1920’s (her own family faced starvation when Thomas was sacked for agitation and boycotted by the mine owners) Ethel joined the women’s section of the Labour Party because she felt sure that she could do something to help them. Joining the Lindsay Ward Committee she became Committee Chair in 1934.

When she was elected to Lindsay Ward in 1950 Ethel was the only women member of the Council. All the male members behaved well towards her, listening politely when she rose to speak but with an air of indulgence rather than serious interest. However, Ethel would not be patronised, she wanted to be listened to because she had something important to say, not out of favour because she was a woman.

Interviewed by the Lancashire Evening Post in 1961, Ethel wanted to encourage more women to stand for election in Local Government. At that time there were just two women and sixty-eight men on the Council. Ethel told the reporter,

”The women or Wigan are not lazy, nor even apathetic. They are just too modest and don’t realise the enormous amount of good they could do on the town council”

Whilst she was keen to support the role of women in all walks of life in an age when “Women’s Lib” was making the headlines Ethel did not see herself as a “bra burning” suffragette. When, during her year of office as Mayor, Ethel met the Queen and Queen Mother, the Queen Mother asked her if she was going to burn her bra. Ethel replied no, she needed her bra for support. Ethel wanted women to have the same opportunities as men but on their merits, not just because they were women.

As a town councillor Ethel was particularly concerned with helping the young and the elderly, serving on the Education and Social Services Committees she also served on Cleansing and Civil Defence. She served as Vice-Chair of Governors for Wigan Girls’ High School, was on the governing body for Secondary Schools and manager of both St Stephen’s and St George’s Primary Schools. During her year in office Ethel learned to swim as an example to encourage others and was a member of the Workshops for the blind committee and the Deaf and Dumb Committee.

In a voluntary capacity she served as president of the Wigan & District Hard of Hearing Fellowship for over twenty-five years and took the time to learn to lip read and was involved in training other lip readers.

In May 1967 Ethel lost her seat on Lindsay Ward but successfully fought and won a by-election in St Thomas Ward in November.

In 1972 she was elected as Wigan’s 725^th, and first woman, Mayor, admitting to the Evening Post and Chronicle that

“I have been a rebel. I’ve stuck my nose into things and stuck out for items I believed in, but I have always tried to represent the interests of the people of Wigan”.

An ordinary housewife Ethel spent a small fortune on new outfits for her year in office, aware that she would be representing Wigan in the public eye but not letting the role go to her head. The morning of “mayor making day” found her doing a bit of shopping and preparing her own lunch before getting ready for the big day.

The mayoral robes were shortened and a new cockade hat designed for Ethel because she thought the Mayoral headgear was “too Napoleonic for a woman”. Ill health prevented her husband, Joe, from fulfilling the duties of Mayor’s consort so Mrs. Marian Pratt undertook the role.

Describing Wigan as having progressed as a town she expressed concern for the forthcoming reorganisation of local government in 1974, fearing that,

“We shall lose the personal touch, the speedy communication between the authority and members of the public”.

Ethel fully immersed herself in a busy year in office, attending civic duties, including meeting the Queen and Queen Mother as well as supporting many local events and organisations. Often she would leave home at 9am and not return until after midnight. Late in 1973 she suffered a heart attack and was admitted to hospital but was soon recovering and able to return to the political scene.

Reorganisation saw a re-drawing of the political and administrative boundaries of Wigan and Leigh with twelve former local authorities being merged into Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council. Ethel gained a seat for Labour in Marsh Green and Beech Hill Ward, were she served until 1982 when she lost her seat.

In October 1982 she became Wigan’s first honorary Alderman in recognition of a life devoted to representing the people of Wigan. Thanking the Council for this honour she said. “I have never sought this type of thing – all I have ever done is to do my best for the people I represented”.

Her husband, Joe, died in 1974 having suffered from ill health for some years. In 1984 Ethel re-married to Robert Johnson. When she died in June 1991 members of the Council paid personal tributes and stood in silence for a few moments in respect.

Sources:

At Wigan Local Studies unless otherwise stated

• 1901 Census RG13/3553 Wigan, Enumeration District 11, folio 90, schedule 166,
• 1911 Census RG14/22978 Wigan, Enumeration district 6 (www.ancestry.com)
• Post and Chronicle 31^st July 1978 (Biographical Cuttings Book 9 page 248)
• Lancashire Evening Post 29^th March 1961 (Biographical Cuttings Book 7 page 118)
• Post and Chronicle 31^st May 1976 (Biographical Cuttings Book 8 page 246)
• Lancashire Evening Post 17^th November 1967 (Biographical Cuttings Book 7 page 216)
• Evening Post and Chronicle 20^th March 1972 (Biographical Cuttings Book 8 page 64)
• Wigan Observer 19^th May 1972 (Biographical Cuttings Book 8 page 75)
• Wigan Observer 26^th May 1972 (Biographical Cuttings Book 8 page 76) Photo
• Wigan Observer 10^th March 1972, Evening Post & Chronicle 7^th March 1972 (Biographical Cuttings Book 8 page 60)
• Post and Chronicle 24^th May 1973 (Local Cuttings Book 13 page 186)
• Wigan Observer 21^st December 1973 (Local Cuttings Book 13 page 281)
• Evening Post and Chronicle 4^th January 1974 (Biographical Cuttings Book 8 page 142)
• Wigan Observer 28^th October 1982 (Biographical Cuttings Book 10 pages 267, 268)
• Post and Chronicle 14^th September 1982 (Biographical Cuttings Book 10 page 249)
• Wigan Observer 14 June 1991 page 5 columns b, c, d &e
• Wigan Council Minutes 26 June 1991 (Council Minutes 1990/91 page 265)