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Mary Wilson, Lady Wilson of Rievaulx

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Gladys Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx (née Baldwin; 12 January 1916 – 6 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 102 years, 145 days.

The Right Honourable
The Lady Wilson of Rievaulx
Mary Wilson in 1970
Born
Gladys Mary Baldwin

(1916-01-12)12 January 1916
Diss, Norfolk, England
Died6 June 2018(2018-06-06) (aged 102)
London, England
Resting placeSt Mary's Old Church, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly
Occupations
Known forSpouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom (1964–1970, 1974–1976)
Political partyLabour
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1940; died 1995)​
Children2, including Robin

Life

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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.[1] 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.[4]

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.[7]

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,[8] a short distance from Downing Street. She retained the couple's holiday home in the Isles of Scilly.[9]

In 2010, at the age of 94, she attended the funeral of Michael Foot.[10] Three years later, at the age of 97, she accepted an invitation to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher.[11]

Death

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Wilson died after a stroke at St Thomas' Hospital in London on 6 June 2018, at the age of 102,[7][12] having outlived her husband by 23 years.[13] The longest-lived spouse of a British prime minister, she was the first to live beyond the age of 100 years.[3][8] 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

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  • Wilson, Mary (1970). Selected Poems. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-105010-8.[15]
  • Wilson, Mary (1979). New Poems. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-139460-8.
  • Wilson, Mary (2004). A Journey to Scilly. St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly: A.H. Read & Son.

References

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  1. ^ a b Langdon, Julia (7 June 2018). "Mary Wilson obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  2. ^ Pullein-Thompson, Diana; et al. (1985). Five at 10: Prime Ministers' Consorts Since 1957. Trafalgar Square. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-233-97733-1.
  3. ^ a b McSmith, Andy (7 June 2018). "Lady Wilson of Rievaulx: Poet and wife of former Labour prime minister Harold Wilson". The Independent. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Lady Wilson of Rievaulx obituary". The Times. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Tears, tiffs and triumphs". The Guardian. 6 September 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  6. ^ Jenkins, Roy (23 September 2004). "Wilson, (James) Harold, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (1916–1995), prime minister". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58000. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ^ a b Elliott, Francis (7 June 2018). "Mary Wilson, widow of the prime minister Harold Wilson, dies aged 102". The Times. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  8. ^ a b McSmith, Andy (8 January 2016). "Mary Wilson: Wife of former Prime Minister Harold turning 100 years-old". The Independent. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  9. ^ "BT Broadband Brings Together Two Remote UK Communities Further Apart Than London to Venice". objectiveone.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  10. ^ "In praise of ... Mary Wilson". The Guardian (Editorial). 16 March 2010. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015.
  11. ^ Cabinet Office (18 October 2013). "Final guest list for Lady Thatcher's funeral". gov.uk. p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2017. Lady Wilson of Rievaulx.
  12. ^ "Mary Wilson, poet and wife of ex-prime minister Harold, dies aged 102". BBC News. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  13. ^ Hyman, Gavin (10 March 2022). "Wilson [née Baldwin], (Gladys) Mary, Lady Wilson of Rievaulx (1916–2018), poet and prime ministerial consort". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000380624. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  14. ^ "Lady Wilson of Rievaulx – Service of Thanksgiving". The Parish of The Isles of Scilly (PDF). 17 June 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  15. ^ Turner, Alwyn W (n.d.). "Mary Wilson's Poems". Trash Fiction. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
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