Daisy Parsons

Marguerite Parsons
Born Marguerite Millo
21 May, 1890
Poplar
Died 29 September, 1957
Stratford, London
Nationality UK
Known for Suffragette and Mayor

Marguerite "Daisy" Lena Parsons MBE born Marguerite Lena Millo (21 May, 1890 – 29 September, 1957) was a British suffragette. She was part of a delegation to the Prime Minister in 1912. She later became a councillor and in 1937 she was West Ham's first woman mayor.

Life

Parsons was born in Poplar in London in 1890. Her father Alfred Albert Millo dealt in jewellery when he was well and her mother Elizabeth worked a charlady. She had five younger brothers and she left school early so that she could care for them.[1] At fourteen she was a maid working for the local librarian.[2] Parsons took piecework and she was surprised to find how little she earned compared to the men. She brought up an orphaned niece and three daughters with her husband Robert Stanley (Tom) Parsons. When her eldest became due for a vaccination she applied to have an exemption but she was told that only fathers could apply.[3]

The 1914 deputation - Parsons is on the right

Parsons joined Sylvia Pankhurst's East London Federation of Suffragettes and became the secretary of the branch in South West Ham. In 1914 Sylvia went on hunger strike and refused to stop until the Prime minister received women so that they could present their case for the vote. Asquith agreed and Parsons was able to tell him of her problems as she was one of the six women chosen. She told Asquith that she gave birth to children but she had little say in deciding "what is good for them." During world war one the East London Federation of Suffragettes opened a baby clinic and Parsons was the manager.[3]

After the war she was asked to help the local council distribute help for mothers. She joined the Maternity and Child Welfare Committee in 1919. In 1922 she was elected as a socialist borough councillor on the West Ham Council. In 1935 she was made an Alderman[3] and the following year she became West Ham's first woman mayor. As a result she opened the local lido, got to drive the first local trolleybus[2] and returned to the youth club in Canning Town which had inspired her.[4]

She was given an MBE in 1953 and she died in Stratford in London in 1957.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Turbulent Londoners: Daisy Parsons, 1890-1957". Turbulent London. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Daisy Parsons". The Great British Community. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Tim Wales, ‘Parsons , Marguerite Lena (1890–1957)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 21 November 2017
  4. ↑ Armine Ishkanian; Simon Szreter (1 May 2012). The Big Society Debate: A New Agenda for Social Policy?. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-1-78100-208-7.
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