The story of the UK's first policewoman Edith Smith (2024)

Lincolnshire has been home to many of the famous faces and pioneers of British history, with some of the most well-known including former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the scientist Isaac Newton.

But perhaps a lesser-known pioneer is Edith Smith, who in 1915, while serving in Grantham, was the first woman police officer to be given the power of arrest.

Earlier this year, an exhibition was officially opened at Grantham Museum to commemorate Edith, who went on to serve in Lincolnshire until 1918.

The Oxton Society, in its publication Britain's First Warranted Policewoman, says that Edith Smith was born in Birkenhead on November 21, 1876.

She was born into humble beginnings and for a time, Edith worked as a nurse and a midwife until the outbreak of the First World War.

This would prove to be a turning point in the life of Edith Smith, as it marked the formation of the Women Police Volunteers (WPV) in London.

In early 1925, this group became the Women's Police Service and the Oxton Society notes: "The two women police officers...moved from Grantham to Hull, to be replaced in Grantham by Mrs Edith Smith and Miss Teed.

"Both women had been trained in London, where a colleague Dorothy Peto described Edith Smith as “a woman of outstanding personality, fearless, motherly and adaptable”.

"They moved drunks on, visited the families of girls that they believed to be in “moral danger” and, controversially, enforced a curfew imposed on the women of Grantham by the Army."

The Oxton Society's history says that following this early period of work, "in November 1915 a meeting was held in Grantham to discuss the progress of the policewomen.

"The Bishop of Grantham was in the chair. The Chief Constable said he was most satisfied with the women's performance and that he now wanted their work to continue in an official capacity."

A plaque commemorating Edith's work at the Lincolnshire Police headquarters notes of her early years in service: "She was sworn in at Grantham Police station in the Guildhall in August 1915.

"She was called in by Lincolnshire's Chief Constable to help deal with the upsurge in prostitution in the area because huge numbers of new Army recruits were billed there for training."

Indeed, the first report on Edith's annual activities, according to The Oxton Society, "recorded that 'fallen women' (prostitutes from elsewhere) had voluntarily left town because 'the policewoman was such a nuisance'."

Edith's plaque at Lincolnshire Police's HQ says that she left the force in 1918, having worked continuously for "seven days a week".

The story of the UK's first policewoman Edith Smith (1)

Another plaque in memory of Edith, based in the borough of Halton near Liverpool where she moved later in life, says: "After leaving the police force Edith returned to her former occupation as a nurse.

"Towards the end of her life she moved into one of the almshouses in Castle Road, Halton Village, now working for the Halton and District Nursing Association."

Tragically, the Oxton Society's history says: "She died from a self-induced overdose of morphine on 26 June 1923.

"The coroner, in finding that death was due to morphia poisoning, said it was a painful duty to return a verdict that the deceased took her own life but he believed that she did so whilst “temporarily insane”, and he returned a verdict accordingly.

"Such a verdict does not have the same connotation as it might have today, for although it might sound harsh, then it served as a form of legal “kindness”, ensuring inheritance, reducing the stigma of suicide and enabling Christian burial rites to be performed."

Her plaque in Halton notes: "Edith was buried in an unmarked grave in Halton Cemetery.

"A gravestone was finally installed in December 2018, organised by Merseyside Police."

Lincolnshire Live reported at the time that a service was held at St Mary's Church and Halton Cemetery in December 2018 following the installation of the headstone, with the service being attended by Edith's granddaughter.

The Grantham Civic Society erected its own blue plaque dedicated to Edith, which is located on the walls of the former police cells between The Guildhall and Grantham Museum on a road named "Edith Smith Way."

After a fundraising campaign was started in 2019 by Grantham Museum to host an exhibit dedicated to Edith Smith, the exhibition was officially launched at an event in September.

It was once again attended by Edith's granddaughter Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) of Lincolnshire Police Kerrin Wilson and PCSO Holly Farmer.

Speaking at the time, ACC Wilson said: "What PC Edith Smith achieved was outstanding and she was, and remains, an inspiration.

"Edith proved the absolute value of women within policing and was a trailblazer for all that has followed."

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The story of the UK's first policewoman Edith Smith (2024)

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