Spotlight on: Mary E Williams, Leasowe's Last Lighthouse Keeper

Spotlight On: In this series, we aim to explore the stories of some interesting characters we've stumbled across and who you might also like to meet. In this instalment, we encounter Mary Elizabeth Williams, Leasowe's last Lighthouse Keeper.

Leasowe Lighthouse c.1905. Could this be the Williams family? Credit: Geoff Topp's Postcard Collection.

In its 500-year history, Trinity House - the official authority for lighthouses in England and Wales - has never appointed a woman to the post of Principal Keeper. Mersey Docks and Harbour Board adopted an entirely different attitude, appointing Elizabeth Wilding as keeper of Bidston Lighthouse in 1797 after the death of her husband. Leasowe Lighthouse boasted two female principal keepers in the last sixty years of its service: Ann Jones in 1854, and Mary Elizabeth Williams between 1894 and 1908. And so it was, that for the last fourteen years of its active life, Leasowe Lighthouse was expertly manned by a middle-aged single mother, her teenage daughter and Assistant Keeper, Bertha, and maybe even three little girls! It was this image that captivated our interest in Mary's story, and we felt she would be a deserving subject for the first entry in our Spotlight On series.

SHE'S A KEEPER

From American Lighthouse Foundation Archives.

Somerset-born Mary Williams married her husband Thomas, a Liverpool mariner in 1865. Later, in 1874, the couple and their three young children relocated to Llandudno where Thomas was appointed Assistant Keeper at Great Orme's Head Lighthouse. Over the next thirty-five years, the pair lived and worked at four lighthouses across Liverpool Bay and North Wales. They had thirteen children in total. During the final year of Thomas' life, the pregnant Mary was the primary carer of both her husband and the lighthouse. Upon Thomas' passing, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board had no hesitation in appointing Mary as principal keeper.

[She] had in fact, though not in name, discharged the duties for a considerable time passed.

- Dundee Evening Telegraph, October 1894.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Boy keeping watch at the fresnel lantern in Eddystone Lighthouse.

The existence of a lighthouse family was peripatetic, isolated, and required all hands on deck. Being a lighthouse keeper's wife was a life-long commitment! Mary and her thirteen children would have sacrificed a great deal of normality for Thomas' career, as they were tethered to their remote outcrop and to the small, insular community of lighthouse families nearby. The Williams children all had to pitch in to help run the lighthouse. During their time at Upper Hoylake Lighthouse, two of Mary's teenage sons were employed in the telegraph room, and her daughter Bertha later served as Assistant Keeper during her mother's tenure. Younger generations often followed in the footsteps of their parents, keeping lighthouses themselves. Mary's son Job later became Assistant Keeper of Great Orme's Head, where he was born.

By the time Mrs Williams became Principal Keeper, her older children had moved on, leaving her and Bertha to care for three young girls. During their time as Lighthouse Keepers, the mother and daughter team would be trimming the wicks, replenishing fuel, and carrying out maintenance tasks such as cleaning lenses and windows. They were also responsible for the fog signal, the weather station and played a major role with search and rescue in Rock Channel.

For ten years past, the Leasowe lighthouse, in the estuary of the Mersey, had been in [the] charge of the widow of a former keeper, who has several times gone out in an open boat to wrecks and taken off the crew."

- The Globe, July 1908.

A SURPRISE VISIT FROM A SUFFRAGETTE

Florence Balgarnie c. 1896. Elliott & Fry.

During their visit to Liverpool in October 1894, noted feminist Florence Balgarnie and two friends paid Mrs Williams a surprise visit in the middle of the night. The ladies had heard a rumour of the appointment of a woman as Principal Keeper at Leasowe Lighthouse and wanted to deliver their congratulations in person. The visit was detailed by Balgarnie in The Woman's Signal, a popular weekly feminist magazine based in London. Having recently published "A plea for the appointment of police matrons...", Balgarnie had a penchant for putting women in the workplace and was understandably thrilled to meet Mrs Williams.

On their final night in Liverpool, the group hailed a horse-drawn cab from Birkenhead station to the isolated Leasowe Lighthouse. On arrival, they trudged through the rain and mud.

With dresses tucked up round our waists, we formed a single umbrella file and made for the invisible point...

Upon reaching the beacon, the trio met "a dark-haired, bright-eyed, cheery little woman, with a lantern in her hand", the only female lighthouse keeper in Britain at this time. After being led up the spiral staircase, past the kitchen and up again into the parlour, Mrs Williams' soggy guests were keen to ask her some questions. She was hospitable, though quickly reminded them of her principal duties.

I'm right glad to see you, but if you offer me five pounds you can't see the light. I've strict orders to admit no one without a ticket.

Suitably impressed, the ladies finished quizzing their host as she had to return to her night watch. With no way to hail a cab from the remote lighthouse, we like to think the visitors stayed the night there at the courtesy of Mrs Williams, making their way back to London in the morning.

[Quotations from The Woman's Signal, December 1894].

MARY, MARY, QUITE EXTRAORDINARY

Leasowe Lighthouse,
present day.

In 1881, Mrs Williams' occupation was listed as 'Light Keeper's Wife', a small but crucial acknowledgement that the profession of lighthouse keeper extended beyond the man who held the title of the job. Over the course of Mary's life in service, she raised a large family, nursed her dying husband, held down a second job as laundress to Leasowe Golf Club, and saved lives at sea, all whilst humbly bearing the title and responsibilities of Britain's only woman lighthouse keeper.

With the shifting of sand banks, Rock Channel was barely navigable by 1908 and on the 15th July Leasowe's light was extinguished. Whilst Mrs Williams moved into a nearby residence, she kept the lighthouse open as a tearoom during the summer months. After a period of dereliction following her death, the lighthouse was listed as a Grade II building in 1952 and was restored.

Leasowe's all-female-run lighthouse was unique in its time but we, as Liverpudlians, are proud that the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board were not fazed by Mrs Williams' sex, and rather embraced her expertise when choosing to appoint her as the last keeper of Leasowe Lighthouse.

We hope you enjoyed the first account in our Spotlight On series and learning about the life of the brilliant Mrs Williams and the lighthouse she kept for fourteen years. Leasowe Lighthouse is open to the public on the first and third Sunday of every month. Perhaps you could knock on her door if you find yourself exploring the Wirral?

Until next time,

The Anoraks

Announcement of the appointment of Mary E Williams as keeper of Leasowe Lighthouse.
Dundee Evening Telegraph. (1894) Newspaper image © The British Library Board. All rights reserved.
With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive.
([source page] [www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk])

Announcement of the closure of Leasowe Lighthouse.
The Globe (1908) Newspaper image © The British Library Board. All rights reserved.
With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive.
([source page] [www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk])

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