THE mayor of Bridport wants to find out more about the first woman elected to the town council - and is calling on the public for help.

To mark International Women’s Day which was held on March 8, Councillor Ian Bark has been learning about Agnes Suttill - the first woman to be elected as a councillor in Bridport. She was also one of the first councillors in England.

Now there are moves to mark her achievements in some way – 100 years on from when she was first elected.

Cllr Bark has been assisted in his research by Cllr Karen Hunt - who is a historian, chairman of Bridport Museum Trust and a founding member of Bridport Women’s History Group. It was Cllr Hunt who discovered that in 1921 Mrs Suttill became one of the country’s first elected women councillors.

Cllr Bark said: "Many women continue to be ‘hidden from history’. Agnes Suttill, this pioneering woman, is not celebrated in Bridport. The nearest we have to a memorial does not name her. It currently hangs in the WI Hall in North Street, which she gave in memory of her husband, John Suttill - a town councillor who died in the flu pandemic in 1919.

"There is a lot still to piece together about Agnes Suttill. Karen feels strongly that this is an important centenary for the town and doesn’t want this woman and her story to remain a hidden part of our past."

He added: "Bridport Council wants to commemorate her life and achievements and are looking for imaginative ways to celebrate this pioneering Bridport woman."

The mayor is asking for residents to help him uncover more about Agnes Suttill. Cllr Bark can be contacted with information via email at ianbark@icloud.com.