Island’s first female deputy to get blue plaque
Guernsey’s first female people’s deputy is receiving a blue plaque in January.
Marie Randall MBE was elected to represent St Peter Port on 31 January 1924 and held the position for 31 years.
For 24 of them she was the only woman in the States.
Eight out of 40 States members today are female.
Nominator Shelaine Green – chairwoman of Women in Public Life – said Marie Randall was a pioneer, who was elected just four years after Nancy Astor first sat in the UK Parliament, and 24 years before Ivy Forster, Jersey's first female States member.
‘We’re thrilled that the Blue Plaques Panel have accepted our nomination and can’t wait to see Marie’s plaque unveiled by the Deputy Bailiff in January,’ she said.
‘It’s hard to believe that, 100 years after Marie was first elected, there are still only eight women among the 40 members of the States.
‘We really hope Marie’s story will inspire other Guernsey women to follow in her footsteps – and we’d of course be very happy to support them.’
Miss Randall, who was the daughter and sister to brewers R H Randall and R W Randall respectively, studied at The Ladies’ College and volunteered in the Voluntary Aid Department during World War One, serving as a nurse in Guernsey, Rouen and London.
She became a lay member of the General Committee of the Victoria Hospital (Amherst), followed by serving on a long list of States committees, and advocated for equal voting rights for five years, lowering women’s’ voting age from 30 to 20 years old, which was the same as men, in 1938.
Miss Randall was made an MBE in 1954, before retiring from the States in 1955. She died in 1965.
The blue plaque will be unveiled by Deputy Bailiff Jessica Roland, on Wednesday 24 January at 12.45pm at One St Julian’s, formerly Vauxlauren’s Brewery, which was Miss Randall’s former home.
Everybody is welcome to attend the unveiling, which will mark 100 years since Miss Randall’s election.
The blue plaque scheme recognises past Guernsey people who made an important contribution to the Bailiwick and the wider world.
It also intends to inform the public and visitors about these people and where they lived or worked.
