Marie Randall awarded a Blue Plaque
Marie Randall MBE – Guernsey’s first female deputy – awarded a blue plaque
21 November 2023
A Blue Plaque has been awarded to Marie Randall (1881 – 1965) by the Blue Plaques Panel and it will be unveiled in January 2024.
Marie Louise Mansell Randall was the first woman in Guernsey to be a People’s Deputy.
She was elected to represent St Peter Port on 31 January 1924 at the age of 42 and
remained a States member for 31 years. For 24 of those years, she was the only woman in
the States. Marie was the daughter of R.H Randall and the sister of R.W. Randall, both
successful brewers.
She was educated at The Ladies’ College. At the age of 33 she volunteered as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment in World War I and nursed in Guernsey, Rouen and London. In 1919 she became a lay member of the General Committee of the Victoria Hospital (Amherst).
She served on a long list of States committees and was an advocate for equal voting rights for women. In 1933 she signed an unsuccessful petition from 14 Deputies and others calling for the voting age for women to be reduced from 30 to 20 to match the voting age for men. She brought the matter back to the States in 1938 and, after a proposal from the Bailiff, the voting age for women was reduced to 20. Marie was made an MBE in 1954 and retired from the States in 1955.
January 2024 will mark the 100th anniversary of Marie Randall’s election. Women in
Public Life nominated Marie to commemorate the occasion.
Shelaine Green, Chair of Women in Public Life, said:
“Marie Randall was a pioneer, elected just four years after Nancy Astor first sat in the UK Parliament and 24 years before Jersey’s Ivy Forster. 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.
“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.”
The plaque will be unveiled by the Deputy Bailiff, Jessica Roland, on Wednesday 24th
January at 12.45pm at One St Julian’s, Marie’s former home when it was Vauxlauren’s
Brewery. All are welcome to attend.
Image credit: Island Archives Service.
