Reference
AU10/136
Title
Pauline Mary Whittington
Date free text
December 2006
Production date
From: 2006 To: 2006
Scope and Content
Obituary of Pauline Mary Whittington, who died on 23rd December 2006, read by Peter Mears at her funeral:
"Pauline Mary Whittington, or Polly as she was usually known, was born on December the 21st 1932 in Ivy Cottage which adjoins the Baptist Chapel in Dunstable Street. There she spent the early years of her life, moving with her parents and sister Olive to the Crescent when the council houses were first built. She went to the Methodist School on the Sands, under its popular headmaster, Mr E Allston Yorke and was obviously a bright child because from there she was offered a Free Place to Dame Alice Harpur School, but her parents felt it would be unfair for her to go to Bedford as her older sister had not been so successful. A pity, as she would have benifited from a higher education as she was a highly intelligent woman. Strangely and coincidentally, her husband John was taught by a Miss Yorke (Allston Yorke's sister), at the Queen Street School in Hitchin.
Polly joined the Brownies and went through the Guide movement as far as the Trefoil Guild. She left school at the end of Christmas Term 1946 and went to work for the solicitors Sharman & Trethewy as office junior, where they taught her book-keeping. Around this time she, with Gladys Wagstaff, set up a ladies Hockey Club where she served as Secretary until her marriage. She left Sharmans in the early 50s and joined Dudeney & Johnston as shop manageress of their Bedford Street shop, although successful she was not there long as they felt the shop needed an older manager. She married Norman Oliver in 1955 and Anne arrived the following year. She then worked for Dr Larrie O'Donnell as his receptionist and then additionally for Leslie Swaffield as his book-keeper. That job eventually became full-time as J R Eve & Son bought the Swaffield business when Leslie contracted cancer. They gave her house sales to look after - they would not call it Estate Agency as that meant something quite different in their book. She was very successful and in 1973 was poached away by Stillmans, only to be made redundant within a week. Her next move was to work with John Mayhead, whom she married in 1983 and they continued to work together as business partners until the week before her death.
Her "pastime interests" were very many and varied. She became a founder member of the Aragon Ladies club. She joined the St John Ambulance Service where she not only did and practised First Aid, but took and passed examinations in Nursing, Advanced Nursing and Barrier Nursing. She resigned from the St John Ambulance Service when John went to live with her. She was also secretary of the Ampthill branch of the RNLI for 30 years and held the RNLI Silver Long Service Award. In 1985 she was recruited by the Bedford branch of the British Red Cross Society to start and run a Red Cross Youth Group in Flitwick which she ran very succesfully for a number of years, aided by husband John, only giving up when red tape and political correctness strangled all Red Cross Youth Groups.
A member of the Mid Beds Conservative Association, she served the party as a committee member of the Ampthill branch and as a Mid Beds Councillor for 1991-95 where she was Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee and at the same time a Governer of Redborne School. She was a fearless debater and was never overawed by a person's position. John Major, Virginia Bottomley, Michael Heseltine and Edwina Curry amongst others, were all given advice as to where they were going wrong and how they should alter their policies if they wished to be re-elected! From 1995 to 2003 she was a Town Councillor, and served as Mayor for the year 1998/99, a member of the Town Centre Partnership from its inception to its demise, and its Chairman for all bar the first two years of its existence. A founding Member of the Editorial team of Ampthill Town Council's "Around the Pump" newsletter, when it really was a newsletter.
A Governer of the Firs School for the 8 years of her time on the Town Council, an active Member of Ampthill Chamber of Trade from 1987 to her death, Polly was a member of Ampthill Inner Wheel from 1985 and twice served it as President as well as holding other offices during that time.
Polly and John enjoyed an interesting and rewarding marriage of shared interests. They would have been married for 23 years on Christmas Eve and she missed her 74th birthday by just two days. Together they served the town's interests selflessly all that time. Her commitment to the well-being of the town of her birth was second to none - and she will be sorely missed by all who knew her."
Level of description
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