Eleanor Kathleen Goodrich OBE (1888 – 1988) was a British politician and activist.
Born in Clapton, as Eleanor Kathleen Harslett, her father was a stage manager, and both of her parents were close friends with Herbert Morrison.[1] She became a suffragette and a teacher, active in the National Union of Women Teachers.[2][3]
In 1934, Goodrich was elected for the Labour Party to the council of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, one of the first party members to win a seat in the borough.[3] She won a seat in Balham and Tooting at the 1946 London County Council election.[4] From 1947 until 1949, she also served as Mayor of Wandsworth, the first woman from the Labour Party to hold the post.[3]
The Balham and Tooting constituency was abolished for the 1949 London County Council election, and Goodrich instead stood unsuccessfully in Wandsworth Central.[5] Despite this defeat, she was appointed to serve on the council's education committee.[2] In the 1951 New Year Honours, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.[6]
Goodrich contested Wandsworth Central again at the 1952 London County Council election,[7] winning a seat, but she lost it again in 1955.[8] She was instead appointed as an alderman,[9] and in 1958/1959, served as vice-chair of the council.[10]
In the late 1960s, Goodrich helped establish the Putney Arts Theatre in its long-term venue.[11] She died in 1988.[12]
References edit
- ^ Morrison, Herbert (1960). Herbert Morrison: An Autobiography. Odhams Press. ISBN 9787240011669.
- ^ a b Spence, Jean; Meikle, Maureen; Aiston, Sarah (2009). Women, Education, and Agency, 1600-2000. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781135855840.
- ^ a b c "National Life Stories: Amy Bush" (PDF). British Library. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ "The New LCC: Labour gains in a low poll". The Times. 9 March 1946.
- ^ "LCC Polling". The Times. 9 April 1949.
- ^ British Empire :"No. 39104". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1950. pp. 1–34.
- ^ "London County Council: Election results". The Times. 5 April 1952.
- ^ "LCC results: Conservatives make headway". The Times. 25 April 1955.
- ^ Jackson, William Eric (1965). Achievement : a short history of the London County Council. London: Longmans.
- ^ "New L.C.C. Begins Work. Aldermanic Vacancies Filled By Labour". The Times. 23 April 1958. p. 6.
- ^ "Theatre gets its act together". News Shopper. 12 March 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ "Eleanor Kathleen Goodrich". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 23 November 2022.