First Women Councillor in Wymondham, 1953
Located outside Wymondham Central Hall, 6A Back Ln, NR18 0QB
Left Photo: Ethel Gooch is second from right in the front row of this photo of National Union of Agricultural Workers delegates at the Labour Party conference in Brighton in the late 1920s
Right Photo: Ethel and Edward are second and third from the left in the front row outside the NUAW marquee at the Royal Norfolk Show c.1950.
Born in 1887, Ethel Gooch was educated at Dereham High School and then at Homerton College, Cambridge. She became a schoolteacher until she met the famous Edwin Gooch, a journalist and an active member of the Labour Party. She was a strong and intelligent leader and in 1935 she was appointed to the new Wymondham Town Council. She is the first woman councillor we have on record, however, it is important to note that it is possible that other women were appointed around the same time. 1935 was also the year that her husband became the head of the Wymondham Urban District Council. In 1951, she would become the first chairwoman of Wymondham Town Council and a road in Wymondham has been named in her honour.
The Wymondham High FemSoc chose Ethel Gooch because of her pioneering role in female leadership. Her election to the council speaks to her merit as a person, inspiring women to take on new challenges. We think Ethel Gooch deserves not only to be celebrated but remembered on her own - apart from her husband's work - for her courage and determination, showing the world that leadership doesn't just have to be a boys' club.
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