Page 17 - MANCHESTER PUBS Chorlton

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seemed to bear this out. In the space of
the year they had recruited another 50
members and were confident of more.

The official opening was done with a
gold key and the job fell to Reuben
Spencer, "an old Liberal” who "hoped it
would be a centre around which young
men would be prepared to take a part in
social, municipal and public life generally".

We might jib at the emphasis on men,
especially as women were active in local
politics and, within two decades, Sheena
Simon would be elected as the first woman
Liberal councillor for Chorlton with a
majority of over 1400 votes and 58% of
the vote.***

**Liberalism at Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester Guardian, October 11, 1897
***Not that she was the first woman councillor here in Chorlton; that was Jane
Redford, elected in 1910. She was not a Liberal, but styled herself a Progressive
Candidate and must have been close enough to the Liberal outlook to ensure they
never put up a candidate against her or other Progressives.

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