# Ethel Colman

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{{short description|First female Lord Mayor of Norwich}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
thumb|right|Ethel Colman when Lord Mayor
''' Ethel Mary Colman ''' (12 February 1863 – 23 November 1948) was a philanthropist and a member of the Colman family who was [Lord Mayor of Norwich](/source/Lord_Mayor_of_Norwich) in 1923–24. She was the first woman to be a Lord Mayor in the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom).

==Early life==
Colman was born in 1863, the third of six children to [Jeremiah James Colman](/source/Jeremiah_Colman_(MP)) and his wife [Caroline Colman](/source/Caroline_Colman) (née Cozens-Hardy). Her father was a member of the Colman family, and managed the [Colman's mustard](/source/Colman's_mustard) business. Her mother was a member of the Cozens-Hardy family, as established in law in Norwich as the Colmans were in business. Both families were, by religious temperament, non-conformist, and, by political inclination, [Liberals](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK)). The older children were Laura and Russell; the younger children Helen, Alan and Florence.

Colman's childhood was spent at Carrow House, a neoclassical mansion built in 1861 with internal woodwork carved by local sculptor James Minns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1292106|title=National Heritage List Entry No 1292106|access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref> In 1878, when Colman was 15, the family bought [Carrow Abbey](/source/Carrow_Abbey), a 12th-century Benedictine convent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1205742|title=National Heritage List Entry No 1205742|access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref> Once restoration was complete, the family moved from Carrow House to Carrow Abbey. The House then became the administration offices for Colman's mustard works ([Carrow Works](/source/Carrow_Works)).<ref name="Scrivens">{{cite book |last1=Scrivens |first1=Phyllida |title=The Lady Lord Mayors of Norwich, 1923–2017 |date=31 January 2020 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-4738-9371-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jWHNDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>

Meanwhile, at the age of 14, Colman had been sent to study in London, at Miss Hannah Pipe's School for Young Ladies in [Clapham Park](/source/Clapham_Park). She was soon joined by her sister Helen.<ref name="Scrivens"/> The sisters, who would become lifelong companions, returned to Norwich and rejoined the social life expected of upper-class young ladies of the time.

In 1895 Colman's mother's health collapsed, and consumed by grief at her own father's death, she died.<ref name="Scrivens"/> The following year her brother Alan's health also collapsed. Diagnosed with tuberculosis, Laura and Helen accompanied Alan to Egypt for treatment by the dry desert heat. A few weeks later father Jeremiah and Ethel and Florence travelled to join them.<ref name="Scrivens"/> Alan's dying wish was to sail on the Nile on a traditional [dahabeah](/source/dahabeah), a shallow-bottomed, barge-like vessel with sails. Jeremiah hired the ''Hathor'', and the party travelled in it to [Luxor](/source/Luxor) and the [Valley of the Kings](/source/Valley_of_the_Kings), where Alan died, aged 30.<ref name="Scrivens"/> The following year Florence married architect Edward Thomas Boardman (the son of the more notable architect [Edward Boardman](/source/Edward_Boardman)); shortly after the wedding Jeremiah died. The effect was to render Ethel and Helen wealthy, independent women. Ethel was one of the first women to be a deacon in the Congregational Church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://norfolkwomeninhistory.com/1851-1899/ethel-colman/comment-page-1/|title=Norfolk Women in History: Ethel Colman|date=4 March 2013|access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref> She was a director of the [London Missionary Society](/source/London_Missionary_Society).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://norfolkwomeninhistory.com/1851-1899/ethel-colman/comment-page-1/|title=Norfolk Women in History: Ethel Colman|date=4 March 2013|access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref>

==Philanthropy==
The first of the sisters' philanthropic endeavours was a memorial to their brother Alan. This took the form of building a traditional Norfolk [wherry](/source/wherry), named ''[Hathor](/source/Hathor_(wherry))'' after the vessel on the Nile on which Alan took his last journey. Launched in 1905, the Egyption themed interior was designed by brother-in-law architect Edward T. Boardman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/453/Hathor|title=National Historic Ships UK: ''Hathor''|access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Name Hathor {{!}} National Historic Ships|url=https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/453/hathor|access-date=2021-09-26|website=www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk}}</ref> The sisters hosted both the famous (the conductor [Henry Wood](/source/Henry_Wood) inscribed the visitors' book with a musical score) and the working class (staff from the mustard works, hospital nurses, and their own domestic staff).<ref name="Scrivens"/>

In 1913 [James Stuart](/source/James_Stuart_(scientist)), Ethel's brother in law, husband of her elder sister Laura, died at Carrow Abbey. The sisters' memorial to him was the erection of a block of 22 flats, to re-house some of those affected by the flood of 1912. Stuart Court is still used for low-income housing, managed by Norwich Housing Society.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.norwichhousingsociety.org/our-properties/stuart-court/|title=Norwich Housing Society: Stuart Court|access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref>

After Laura Stuart died in 1920, the sisters' memorial to her was to acquire Suckling Hall, a merchant's house of 14th century origins, and to convert and extend it for use as a hall, including cinema use. Again designed by Edward T. Boardman, Stuart Hall was presented to the City of Norwich in 1925.<ref name="Scrivens"/> With more recent modifications, Stuart Hall remains in community use, now as [Cinema City](/source/Norwich_Cinema_City), part of the [Picturehouse](/source/Picturehouse_Cinemas) chain.

==Lord Mayor==
On 31 October 1923, it was announced that Ethel Colman had agreed to become the first woman to become Lord Mayor of Norwich.<ref name="Scrivens"/> The first woman to become a mayor in the United Kingdom was [Elizabeth Garrett Anderson](/source/Elizabeth_Garrett_Anderson) in 1908, of [Aldeburgh](/source/Aldeburgh), [Suffolk](/source/Suffolk). Others had followed, but none had been Lord Mayors of a City. On 9 November 1923 Colman was escorted into the Council Chamber at the old [Norwich Guildhall](/source/Norwich_Guildhall).<ref name="Scrivens"/>

Colman's sister Helen was the Lady Mayoress during her year in office.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://norfolkwomeninhistory.com/1851-1899/ethel-colman/comment-page-1/|title=Norfolk Women in History: Ethel Colman|date=4 March 2013|access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref> During Colman's year in office the [Norfolk and Norwich Festival](/source/Norfolk_and_Norwich_Festival) was revived, having been suspended since the start of [WWI](/source/WWI).<ref name="Scrivens"/>

Colman went on to be Deputy Lord Mayor in 1927 to [Herbert Witard](/source/Herbert_Witard), the first Labour Lord Mayor.<ref name="Scrivens"/>

==Later life==
In 1929 Princes Street Congregational Church elected Colman a Life Deacon, recognising her long service to the church.<ref name="Scrivens"/>

Older brother Russell Colman died in 1946. The following year Helen died. Without her lifelong companion, Ethel Colman faded, and died at Carrow Abbey in 1948, aged 85. The funeral was held at Princes Street Congregational Church.<ref name="Scrivens"/> Colman is buried in [Rosary Cemetery](/source/Rosary_Cemetery%2C_Norwich).

==Legacy==
There is an Ethel Colman Way in [Thetford](/source/Thetford). Despite her notability as the first woman to be a Lord Mayor, there are no other memorials to her. There is no entry for her in the [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography), although there are entries for her father and mother.

Colman is one of the women who is covered in a book published in 2018.<ref name="Scrivens"/>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Colman, Ethel}}
Category:1863 births
Category:Mayors of Norwich
Category:1948 deaths
Ethel
Category:Women mayors of places in England

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ethel Colman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Colman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Colman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.