About Ethel Gooch
Lived 1887 – 1953 (aged 65). Ethel Gooch was a teacher, politician and councillor.
Ethel Gooch (née Banham; 12 December 1887 – 6 February 1953) was a British teacher and politician. She was the first woman councillor of the town of Wymondham, Norfolk, and the first woman to chair its urban district council. On her death, she was called "one of the pioneers of the Labour movement in rural Norfolk".
Life Ethel Banham was born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, into a Primitive Methodist family.
In 1918, Edwin Gooch helped to found the South Norfolk Labour Party in Church Street, Wymondham.
Ethel became Wymondham Council's first woman member in 1935, and its first woman chairman in 1951. Alun Howkins, author of Edwin Gooch's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, described Ethel as "a formidable and important figure in the history of Norfolk Labour politics". In 2017, Gooch was remembered with a historical tour around Wymondham's town centre.
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Important facts
People in Ethel Gooch's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Ethel Gooch?
British teacher and politician
When was Ethel Gooch born?
Ethel Gooch was born on 12 December 1887.
When did Ethel Gooch die?
Ethel Gooch died on 6 February 1953.
What was Ethel Gooch's occupation?
Ethel Gooch was a teacher, politician and councillor.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ethel Gooch. https://biography.guide/ethel-gooch/
MLA: "Ethel Gooch." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ethel-gooch/.
Chicago: "Ethel Gooch." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ethel-gooch/.
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