Green heritage plaques will be unveiled in Lancaster to celebrate the achievements of two special women.
In 2021 Lancaster Civic Vision and Lancaster City Museum launched a joint campaign to identify women of Lancaster that could, and should, be remembered by having a Green Heritage Plaque erected to their memory within the City of Lancaster.
The first Green Heritage Plaque to a woman in Lancaster was officially unveiled to Sr. Aine Cox, Founder of the Hospice Movement, at St John’s Hospice in December 2021, and other plaques include Emily Williamson – founder of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; Lady Noreen Murray, CBE – molecular geneticist; and Janet Raby & Beatrice Parkinson – last women lighthouse keepers at Cockersands & Plover Lighthouses.
Now, Lancaster Civic Vision has revealed they have two plaques in the pipeline for notable local women.
They are:
Mrs Hilda Leyel
Hilda changed the rules regarding lotteries, which in turn enabled funds to be raised for the building of Westfield War Memorial Village.
Hilda was an actress, herbalist and campaigner for women’s rights, and although she didn’t live in Lancaster, she established the first charity lottery, known as ‘The Golden Ballot’ in 1920, the funds from which helped build almost half of Westfield War Memorial Village for wounded soldiers and their families.
Hilda’s efforts ended up with her on trial for breaking the Gambling & Betting Act, but the case was overthrown and new rules were established permitting charitable fundraising lotteries which are still active today.
Her name lives on in a small group of houses in Westfield Memorial Village, Leyel Terrace.
There will be an unveiling ceremony at Sir Thomas Storey House at 2pm on December 5.
Selina Martin
Selina was a suffragette who suffered brutal treatment when imprisoned for her actions.
Selina Martin was born in Ulverston in 1887 and moved to Lancaster as a baby, growing up in Windermere Road. She was the eldest of eleven children and her family later moved to Sun Street.
Selina became a domestic servant. In the 1900s she became active in the suffragette movement, campaigning for the right to vote for women. On 1st April 1909, Selina Martin represented Lancaster as part of a group of suffragettes attempting to speak to the Prime Minister. As they tried to force their way into the House of Commons, they were arrested. Selina was jailed for a month at Holloway Prison.
In December 1909, Selina again tried to speak with Prime Minister Asquith in Liverpool. He ignored her, and frustrated, she threw a heavy stoneware bottle into his car. For this she was arrested and sentenced to two months’ hard labour. During this imprisonment she went on hunger strike, refusing to eat and gaining more publicity for their cause. Selina was force fed, with a tube being violently inserted via her mouth and into her stomach. She was also roughly treated in prison, being chained to her bed, forced to wear wet clothes and thrown down stairs into a punishment cell.
Selina Martin’s actions show her bravery in campaigning for the right to vote. Her story was shared through newspapers and suffragette publications, gaining awareness and support for their cause. She was awarded the Women’s Social and Political Union’s Hunger Strike Medal in recognition of her ordeal. In her later life she continued to live in Lancaster, where she ran a tobacconist’s shop.
This plaque is to be installed at 29 Sun Street, Lancaster. The plaque is currently in storage, and awaiting a time and date for the unveiling to suit the owner of the property. This will probably be in January.
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