Celebrating the lives of four remarkable women
By Rachel Chapman
When local author Pat Stevens moved to Tynemouth a few years ago, she was surprised – but delighted – to see wall plaques celebrating the lives of four remarkable women who made significant contributions during the 19th and 20th centuries. Each lived in Tynemouth at various times and commemorative plaques were later installed on their homes.
They were Norah Balls (1886-1980), a suffragette who dedicated her life to public service and the women’s movement, Susan Mary Auld (1915 -2002), the first woman to receive a degree in naval architecture and successful ship designer, Dame Maud Burnett (1863-1950) – feminist, politician and the first female Mayor of Tynemouth, and writer Harriet Martineau (1802-1876), often described as Britain’s first woman sociologist.
Pat, a Newcastle City guide, who has researched and written about the efforts of suffragettes across the region, thought it was so unusual for so many commemorative plaques about women to be in such proximity that she should do something about it.
As a regular speaker at the Old Low Light Heritage Centre on North Shields Fish Quay, she offered to lead a guided walk around the plaques to mark International Women’s Day in 2025 and this year, on Thursday 5 March, she is repeating the walk.
The walk starts outside the Church of the Holy Saviour, Broadway. Opposite the church, on King Edward Road is the former home of Norah Balls, who dedicated her life to public service and the women’s movement. Norah spent a large part of her life in Tynemouth and made a significant contribution to three nationwide feminist organisations, the Suffragettes when she travelled widely giving lectures and speeches and was arrested in London for taking part in demonstrations, the Girl Guides Association setting up Girl Guides in Northumberland and the Electrical Association for Women, which aimed to educate women about science and the great benefits that electricity could bring in the home. In 2022 Norah’s story was highlighted in a display at the Old Low Light Heritage Centre which coincided with the unveiling of a blue plaque outside her former home.
The next stop is the Northumberland Terrace home of Susan Mary Auld, the first woman to receive a degree in naval architecture and successful ship designer. As a child she lived in Tynemouth and from the age of ten attended a local school. During WW2, as Britain’s only woman naval architect, her help was sought by the coalition government in two ways. First, the Ministry of Labour sought her advice on how women could be better and more extensively used in the shipbuilding industry and second, the Ministry of Information recruited her to broadcast to the UK’s war allies to encourage them to harness the skills and abilities of women in their war efforts. In 2022 a blue plaque was unveiled outside the house in Northumberland Terrace, Tynemouth, where she was born.
A short walk around the corner to Prior’s Terrace takes you to the home of Dame (Annie) Maud Burnett – feminist, politician and the first female Mayor of Tynemouth. Born in Tynemouth, she attended local schools before completing her education in Switzerland. She dedicated her life to good works, demonstrating that women could and should be equal participants in national and local political life. In 1911 she became the first woman municipal councillor in Northern England. She was the first and only woman councillor in Tynemouth for the next 20 years, becoming the first ever woman to serve as Mayor of Tynemouth in 1928-29 and 1929-30. In 1990 a blue plaque was placed outside her birthplace in Prior’s Terrace, Tynemouth.
The final stop, a short walk away, is on Front Street outside the house where writer Harriet Martineau, who is often described as Britain’s first woman sociologist, lived for several years. She was one of the first women in the early 19th century to earn her own living on equal terms with men. She was also respected for her ideas, her intellect, and her contribution to previous masculine domains of economics, political philosophy, and social sciences. Her first successful book – Illustrations of political economy – was published in 1832 and regularly outsold the works of Charles Dickens. Harriet, who lived in Tynemouth from 1840-1845, was one of the many who came there to improve their health. During her years at Tynemouth, although confined to bed, she continued writing, publishing three books. A small black plaque was later installed on the wall of the house where she lived.
