Mary Wilson, Lady Wilson of Rievaulx explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lady Wilson of Rievaulx
Known For:Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom (1964–1970, 1974–1976)
Birth Name:Gladys Mary Baldwin
Birth Date:1916 1, df=yes
Birth Place:Diss, Norfolk, England
Death Place:London, England
Resting Place:St Mary's Old Church, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly
Party:Labour
Children:2, including Robin

Gladys Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx (; 12 January 19166 June 2018) was an English poet and the wife of Harold Wilson, who twice served as British prime minister. She was the first British prime minister's spouse to become a centenarian, living to the age of .

Life

Gladys Mary Baldwin was born in Diss, Norfolk, the daughter of the Reverend Daniel Baldwin, who was a Congregationalist minister.[1] She attended boarding school at Milton Mount College near Crawley,[2] leaving aged 16 to attend a secretarial course for two years.[3] She was employed as a stenographer at Lever Brothers in Port Sunlight before marrying Harold Wilson on New Year's Day 1940 at Mansfield College, Oxford. Baldwin and Wilson had two sons, Robin (born 1943) and Giles (born 1948).[4]

In 1970, her volume of poetry Selected Poems was published, and, in 1976, Mary Wilson was one of three judges of the Booker Prize, the other judges being Walter Allen and Francis King.[5] According to the Dictionary of National Biography entry for Harold Wilson, written by Roy Jenkins,[6] Wilson was not satisfied with life in politics. It was this detachment which gave the Private Eye spoof "Mrs Wilson's Diary", the supposed diary of Wilson, written in the style of the BBC's daily radio serial Mrs Dale's Diary, a spurious look of authenticity.

Politically, she opposed her husband in the 1975 European Communities membership referendum by voting against continued membership and in her support for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Wilson was widowed on 24 May 1995 when her husband died of colorectal cancer and Alzheimer's disease after ten years of illness. They were married for 55 years. She continued to live in Westminster, a short distance from Downing Street. She retained the couple's holiday home in the Isles of Scilly.[7]

In 2010, at the age of 94, she attended the funeral of Michael Foot.[8] Three years later, at the age of 97, she accepted an invitation to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher.[9]

Death

Wilson died after a stroke at St Thomas' Hospital in London on 6 June 2018, at the age of 102,[10] [11] having outlived her husband by 23 years.[12] The longest-lived spouse of a British prime minister, she was the first to live beyond the age of 100 years.[13] A private service followed by cremation took place on mainland Britain, and her ashes were buried with her husband at Old Town Churchyard in St Mary's, Isles of Scilly.[14]

Publications

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Langdon . Julia . Julia Langdon . 7 June 2018 . Mary Wilson obituary . 9 June 2018 . The Guardian.
  2. Book: Pullein-Thompson, Diana . Diana Pullein-Thompson . Five at 10: Prime Ministers' Consorts Since 1957 . Trafalgar Square . 1985 . 978-0-233-97733-1 . 87 . etal.
  3. Web site: McSmith . Andy . Andy McSmith . 7 June 2018 . Lady Wilson of Rievaulx: Poet and wife of former Labour prime minister Harold Wilson . 9 June 2018 . The Independent.
  4. News: 7 June 2018 . Lady Wilson of Rievaulx obituary . subscription . 24 October 2020 . The Times.
  5. News: 6 September 2008 . Tears, tiffs and triumphs . 22 February 2017 . The Guardian.
  6. Jenkins . Roy . 23 September 2004 . Wilson, (James) Harold, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (1916–1995), prime minister . 58000.
  7. Web site: BT Broadband Brings Together Two Remote UK Communities Further Apart Than London to Venice . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120620150428/http://www.objectiveone.com/client/media/media-651.htm . 20 June 2012 . 11 August 2017 . objectiveone.com.
  8. News: 16 March 2010 . In praise of ... Mary Wilson . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20151017142621/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/17/in-praise-of-mary-wilson . 17 October 2015 . The Guardian . Editorial.
  9. Web site: Cabinet Office . Cabinet Office . 18 October 2013 . Final guest list for Lady Thatcher's funeral . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131212072108/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/251473/17_10_13___FINAL_GUEST_LIST_FOR_PUBLICATION.pdf#page=19 . 12 December 2013 . 20 February 2017 . . 19 . Lady Wilson of Rievaulx..
  10. News: Elliott . Francis . 7 June 2018 . Mary Wilson, widow of the prime minister Harold Wilson, dies aged 102 . subscription . 24 October 2020 . The Times.
  11. News: 7 June 2018 . Mary Wilson, poet and wife of ex-prime minister Harold, dies aged 102 . 24 October 2020 . BBC News.
  12. Hyman . Gavin . Gavin Hyman . 10 March 2022 . Wilson [née Baldwin], (Gladys) Mary, Lady Wilson of Rievaulx (1916–2018), poet and prime ministerial consort . 10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000380624.
  13. Web site: McSmith . Andy . 8 January 2016 . Mary Wilson: Wife of former Prime Minister Harold turning 100 years-old . 11 February 2017 . The Independent.
  14. Book: The Parish of The Isles of Scilly . 17 June 2018 . Lady Wilson of Rievaulx – Service of Thanksgiving . 29 July 2020.
  15. Web site: Turner . Alwyn W . n.d. . Mary Wilson's Poems . 7 June 2018 . Trash Fiction.