None given

56

Married

114 Upper Villiers Street, Wolverhampton

NUWSS

Complies

Caroline Jones was born in Kennington, Surrey, in 1855, the daughter of Edwin Jones. She married Samuel Boutcher Callear, an insurance agent, on 31 May 1881. The couple had five children – Emily (born 1883), Percy, Mary, Annie, Dorothy and Florence (born 1892). By 1901, the family were living at 9 Hunter Street, Wolverhampton, and by 1911 they were at 114 Upper Villiers Street. All five children became teachers. Caroline, Florence and Emily became members of the Wolverhampton Women’s Suffrage Society. Caroline served on the committee from 1912 onward, and Emily was actively involved in collecting subscriptions and delivering notices in the district of Blakenhall. Caroline was also a member of the Insurance Committee and of the Allowances Committee of the Pensions Committee, as well as serving as president of the Women’s Section of the local Labour party. On 31 August 1920, Caroline made history by becoming the first woman to be sworn in as a magistrate for the borough of Wolverhampton, taking her oath before the Mayor, Councillor T. Henn. As reported in the Wolverhampton Chronicle the following day, the Chairman of the Bench, Councillor J. F. Beckett, welcomed her, but stated that “there were cases heard in that Court of such a character that he had no doubt Mrs Callear would prefer not to sit.” She responded by saying that “she had always believed that women should take their full share in citizenship…She did not expect to find the work very pleasant; she expected it to be very painful; but it was work that had to be done.”
Caroline died on 20 May 1939, when the value of her effects was £180 18s. Contributed by Heidi McIntosh, Senior Archivist, Wolverhampton Archives.