1863-1948
Colman Family Records, photograph of Ethel Colman as Lord Mayor of Norwich 1923-4
Ethel Mary Colman a descendent of Mary Hardy, was the first female Lord Mayor 1923-4 in England. Her lady mayoress was her younger sister, Helen Caroline.
The second of Jeremiah J. Colman’s (mustard manufacturer) four daughters, Ethel was a director of a missionary society. She was one of the first women deacons at Princes’ Street, and thus one of the first in any Congregational church. Ethel was also England’s first female lord mayor (C. Binfield, ‘Church and Chapel’ in Norwich since 1550, ed. C. Rawcliffe and R. Wilson, Hambledon and London, 2004, p. 429)
Ethel, along with her sister Helen, had the pleasure wherry Hathor built in 1905, naming the boat after Alan their brother who died in 1897 on boat called Hathor whilst convalescing in Luxor.
Find out more: You can see records relating to Ethel Colman at the Norfolk
Colman Family Records, photograph of Ethel Colman 1920s
Record Office – click here and search for ‘Ethel Colman’.
R.J. Colman, Basil Cozens Hardy, Ethel Colman,Helen Colman, Sidney Cozens Hardy, Joyce Cozens Hardy. 1938? Possible at R Colman’s Golden Wedding Anniversary.
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Norfolk Record Office 