The Salisbury Five - Votes For Women

1. Florence Mildred White was one of the first women in England to join a police force and the very first to join the Salisbury Police Force reaching the rank of sergeant. Later she became the first attested woman to hold the rank of Inspector and the first woman police officer to receive a pension.

2. Rosemary Squires’ strong will and independent character saw her achieve a 60 plus year career in recording, radio, TV and concerts. She became involved in local causes and in 2012 she was awarded the British Music Hall Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004 she was awarded an MBE for services to charity and music.

3. Secret Spitfire Girls. They were a hairdresser, farm worker, shop worker one day and next day they were building Spitfires. They became highly skilled workers building fuselages, wings, tails and assembling complete Spitfires which were then flown to RAF centres by young female ATA pilots. They kept their secret from family and friends all through their lives.

4. Lady Hulse. In 1927 Edith Hulse became Salisbury’s first woman Mayor, no doubt recognising her considerable public work. She also developed a keen interest in community politics, first as a member of Fordingbridge Council and later Salisbury City Council. She had a keen interest in the welfare of the young and elderly, a charity still exists in her name.

5. Lady Jo Benson. In 1973 she was awarded an OBE for her public services and has spent a lifetime dedicated to the betterment of others. As Mayor in 1970 she instigated the Jo Benson Centre – a day centre for adults with physical disabilities. Her involvement with the Cancer Research Campaign led to her becoming President of the Salisbury Branch in 1981.

HOW TO VOTE

Email TheSalisburyFive.2020@gmail.com

Voting papers available: The History Bookshop at Fisherton Mill, The Rocketship Bookshop in Bridge Street, and The Dusthole pub in Tollgate Road.