History of Wigan   (Help with ancient and recent history.)

I had never heard of this lady until I read the following report about her in the WW news section. It sounds like she's deserving of a place in the hall of fame.

A plaque honouring Wigan’s first female councillor will be unveiled on Friday (April 5th) – the first official recognition for one of the most important women in the town’s history.

Martha Hogg was elected in 1920 – becoming one of only a handful of women councillors in Britain and the first in Wigan. She became active in politics after seeing first-hand the terrible conditions the poor were forced to live in.

Martha was a midwife and worked in the poverty-stricken communities of industrial Wigan, which were later immortalised in George Orwell’s book The Road To Wigan Pier. She was shocked by what she saw and joined the Labour party – standing first in 1919 and then again, successfully, in 1920.

At that time it was still highly unusual for a woman to become involved in politics, particularly a working-class woman like Martha. She was born into poverty in 1872, leaving school at thirteen and working in a factory until her marriage. After that, she trained as a midwife, working in some of the poorest communities in the country.