Edith Kent
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Edith Kent | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 24, 1908 |
| Died | August 24, 2012 (aged 103) Plymouth, England, U.K. |
| Spouse | Bill Kent (m. ???–1996; his death) |
Edith Lillie Kent (nee Carter, 24 November 1908 – 24 August 2012)[1] was an electrical welder from Plymouth, England during the Second World War. She is notable for being the first woman in Great Britain to be given equal pay.[2][3]
History
Kent took a job as a welder at Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth in 1941, where she was paid £5 6s a week. She became the first woman to be employed at the dockyard. Kent had the advantage of being only 4 feet 11 inches tall, meaning that she was small enough to weld in places her male colleagues could not such as torpedo tubes.[2][3]
In 1942, she gave birth to her only child, a daughter called Jean. She returned to work soon after she gave birth, however, leaving Jean in the care of one of her sisters. In 1943, she was given a pay rise, earning £6 6s. This was higher wage than the average for a male manual worker, which was £5 8s 6d.[2] After the war had finished in 1945, she left her job when the male workforce returned from the front. She took up a new job as a barmaid.[2] She lived with her husband Bill, who ran a shoe repair business. He died in 1996, aged 86.[3]
Kent herself has said that she was embarrassed at the time of her achievement saying: "I got the job because my brothers worked at the dockyard and they thought I would be good at it. I was the first woman to work as a welder there. It made me a bit uncomfortable that I was the first woman to earn the same as the men - and in some cases I was earning more than them. All the men I worked with were marvellous and they didn't seem to mind me earning the same. None of them ever dared say it, but I think they knew I was worth as much as them, if not more."[2]
Kent had an elder sister, Minna Algate, who died aged 106.[4] Kent died in Plymouth in August 2012 at the age of 103.[5]
References
- ^ "Edith should be female face of the fiver". The Plymouth Herald. 5 July 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
- ^ a b c d e "Edith Kent, wartime welder and the first woman to receive equal pay, turns 100". The Times. London. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ a b c "Welder Edith celebrates new milestone". Western Morning News. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Mrs Edith Lillie Kent in the England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2018
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