Mary Howard Ashworth

Mary Howard Ashworth (10 February 1863 – 21 February 1928), known as May Ashworth, was an English businesswoman who won the contract to provide official typing services to the Houses of Parliament in 1895 and remained Official Typist to Parliament to her death in 1928.

Early life Ashworth was born in Holme Abbey in Cumbria. Her mother was Sarah (born Bewley) and her father, Arthur Ashworth, was the vicar of Holme Cultram. She was the first born of their seven children. Her father died when she was eleven, but the family were provided for and she enjoyed an education that included trips abroad.

Career She moved to London, and set up her own business, Ashworth & Co, in 1888 at the age of 25, by working long hours in Westminster. She was living in Battersea with her mother and she had trained in typing and Pitman shorthand. She started with two rooms and she went on to offer training courses for the "best class of young gentlewomen". These women learned the business and several started their own businesses or working for members of parliament. Ashworth offered typing and dictation to parliamentarians where she employed a manager. She kept her existing offices.

In 1898 an article in Woman's Life noted that she was a workaholic. Her one indulgence, she said, was occasionally cycling before breakfast. By 1925, 250 MPs were using Ashworth's service, which employed 14 staff in the Houses of Parliament.

Personal life Ashworth married William Paull Jewill-Rogers when she was 37, although stated her age as being 34 to his 24 on the paperwork. She continued to run the business after marriage but made her husband a partner, although he is not thought to have been heavily involved. Ashworth filed for divorce in 1919 on grounds of adultery and desertion, and retained control of the business.