Annie Elizabeth Helme
Annie Elizabeth Helme (1874–1963) was the first woman mayor of Lancaster, appointed in 1932. A widow and peace advocate, she brought her daughter as her lady mayoress and asked to be called Mr Mayor.
She was born Annie Elizabeth Smith in Bradford on 18 February 1874 to a Liberal family; her father, Isaac Smith, was Mayor of Bradford in 1883 and 1885. She married physician Walter C Helme, and they lived in Queens Square. Her brother-in-law was Norval Helme, a Lancaster MP.
In 1911 she helped organise the Lancaster Suffrage Society and served as joint secretary. They invited Miss Corbett, a London suffragette, to speak at their meetings. During the war she expanded her work to war relief, serving on the Board of Guardians and as Secretary of a Central Committee of Ladies. She also joined the Education Committee.
She became the first woman elected to Lancaster Borough Council in 1919, winning Castle Ward against a discharged military man. She later became Lancaster’s first female alderman and, in 1932, its first female mayor.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 10:51 (CET).