“I had not heard of him (most aldermen have been men) in my 70 years,” he said.

Chris eventually went off to the Town Hall to investigate where he discovered Alderman Leach was actually a woman, called Ethel but there was little information about her.

He went on a journey of discovery and this has led to the story of “Ethel Leach The Forgotten Pioneer” being published in the Great Yarmouth Local History and Archaeological Journal.

(Image: Family Collection)

She was one of the leading, and at times controversial, citizens of Great Yarmouth now described as the forgotten pioneer…and 100 ago she became the first female Mayor of Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

And now, on Monday November 11 at 21 Market Place, the present mayor, Councillor Paula Waters-Bunn, will unveil a blue plaque honouring and remembering this remarkable woman.

Mary Ethel (known as Ethel) was born in 1850 at Victoria Road, Great Yarmouth. Her father, William Appleton........

© Norwich Evening News