Mary Holt
Member of Parliament
for Preston North
In office
18 June 1970 – 8 February 1974
Preceded byRonald Atkins
Succeeded byRonald Atkins
Personal details
Born(1924-07-31)31 July 1924
Preston
Died17 February 2021(2021-02-17) (aged 96)
Fulwood, Preston, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materGirton College, Cambridge

Mary Holt (31 July 1924 – 17 February 2021) was a British Conservative politician and judge.

Early life

Holt was born in Preston on 31 July 1924 and attended the former Park School, (Girls Grammar School) Preston. She gained her degree, LLB with honours, from Girton College, Cambridge.[1][2]

Career

Holt passed her Bar exams in 1949 and was admitted as a Barrister and served on the Northern Circuit. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Preston North from 1970 to 1974, when she lost the seat in the February election of that year to Labour's Ronald Atkins (from whom she had won the seat in 1970). She was the first woman to hold the Preston North seat.[2] In Parliament, she was an advocate for the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973, which allowed wives to have different addresses to their husbands.[2][3] Her attempt to regain the seat in the October 1974 election was unsuccessful.[4] She returned to legal practice and from 1977 to 1995, Holt was a circuit court judge on the Northern Circuit.

Personal life

Holt never married. She died at home in Fulwood, Preston on 17 February 2021 at the age of 96, weeks after the death of her predecessor (and successor) Ronald Atkins at 104.[5][6] The funeral service was held at Christ Church, Fulwood and she was interred at St John the Baptist's Church, Broughton.

References

  1. ↑ "Former women MPs first elected in the 1970s: Mary Holt". qub.ac.uk. Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics, Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 The honourable ladies. Volume I, Profiles of women MPs 1918--1996. Dale, Iain,, Smith, Jacqui, 1962-. London. 4 September 2018. ISBN 9781785904493. OCLC 1050870942.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ↑ "Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  4. ↑ Times Guide to the House of Commons October 1974
  5. ↑ Mary Holt death notice
  6. ↑ Obituaries, Telegraph (26 February 2021). "Mary Holt, Right-leaning Conservative MP who championed women's causes – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023.
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