Martha Bury

Martha Jane Bury (née Walmsley: 24 November 1850 – 31 May 1913) was an English suffragist and co-operative organiser active in the Co-operative Women's Guild.

Life Bury was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, England to George Walmsley, a headmaster, and Jane Walmsley (née Pearson). Her father died when she was two, forcing her mother to not only work as a draper, but also to take in lodgers. By the following year she was the society's secretary. She later became the President and under her leadership the Darwen society became the largest co-operative in the UK.

She was a keen supporter of the Women's Co-operative Guild and she served three terms on the committee and she was elected as its president in three different years. She crossed swords with the Guild's General secretary Margaret Llewelyn Davies over the approach to women's suffrage and the reform of the divorce laws.

Private life In 1882 she married John William Bury, a weaver with whom she had five children.

Death and legacy Bury died in 1913 and a statue was created as her memorial. The statue is known as the "White Lady" in time it fell and it was restored by a local mason and the friends of Darwen cemetery in 2010.