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Mary Shuttleworth Boden (25 March 1840 – 21 July 1922) was an activist in the British temperance movement. She was affiliated with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W. C. T. U.), British Women's Temperance Association (B. W. T. A.), British Temperance League, Girls' Friendly Society, Women's Union Church of England Temperance Society, Bands of Hope, and the Woman's Auxiliary Union. She donated land to Derby on Bold Lane in memory of her husband which was equipped with sixteen swings as an area for girls, boys and small children to play.

Early years

Mary Shuttleworth Holden was born 25 March 1840, at Aston Hall, Aston-on-Trent. She was the daughter of Edward Anthony Holden, of The Friary, Aston Hall, Derbyshire, and Tilton on the Hill, Leicestershire, and Susan Drummond Holden.

Career

She married Henry Boden (born 1836), of the Friary, Derby on 8 May 1866. They had seven children, Henry Walter Degge Shuttleworth, Anthony Drummond, Reginald Sam, John Wadham, Cherrie Evelyn, and Ellen Mary.

Boden served as Superintendent of Parlor Meetings for the World's W. C. T. U., and Superintendent of the Social department of the National B. W. T. A. She was actively engaged in the white ribbon cause for thirteen years. For some time, she interested herself in various ways in the women employees of Castle Fields Works (Messrs. Boden & Co.) and conducted a large sewing class weekly.

Boden was regarded as leader in many social and religious undertakings, conducting and addressing many drawing-rooms and public meetings in England. She was a founder of the Derby Branch of the National B. W. T. A. She was the Vice-President of the British Temperance League, Vice-President of the Girls' Friendly Society, Treasurer of the Women's Union Church of England Temperance Society (Derby Branch), an active member of the Committee of the Association for the Help and Protection of Girls, and Vice-President of Derby and Derbyshire Bands of Hope, Woman's Auxiliary Union. Her husband, a wealthy manufacturer, left the Conservative party on account of its opposition to the Local Veto Bill.

Personal life

After her husband died in 1908, she donated land in Bold Lane to be known as "Boden Pleasaunce" to the city of Derby. The land was divided into areas for boys, girls and small children to play. It was said to be the town's first properly equipped play area with sixteen swings and a sand pit, opening as a park on 7 July 1910. Decorative wrought iron gates still stand next to the building and include the Boden's Crest and a plaque dedicated to Henry Boden and recording her gift. Boden paid over £1000 to help it open and she received a golden key from the Mayor when it did open. She installed see-saws later, but by 1934 the council were finding other uses for the land. During the war it stored fire-engines and by 1974 it was being used to park cars. Today there is a multi-story car park on the site but the Boden's Pleasuance is still remembered.

Boden died at Derby, 21 July 1922.

References

1. ^ Cherrington 1924, p. 361.
2. ^ S. Paul & Company 1913, p. 184.
3. ^ Burke 1898, p. 135.
4. The Sporting Life 1906, p. 181.
5. Chapin 1895, p. 18.
6. "Mary Boden created Derby's first 'properly equipped' playground". derbytelegraph. 13 March 2018. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
7. "Photographs around the Bold Lane Area of Derby, England". Savage, Andy. 2005. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
8. "Sad end to Derby's first playground as it became site of car park". derbytelegraph. 20 March 2018. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 August 2018.

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Burke, Bernard (1898). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. 1 (Public domain ed.). Harrison & Sons.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Chapin, Clara Christiana Morgan (1895). Thumb Nail Sketches of White Ribbon Women (Public domain ed.). Woman's temperance publishing association. p. 18.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: S. Paul & Company (1913). The Suffrage Annual and Women's Who's Who (Public domain ed.). S. Paul & Company.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: The Sporting Life (1906). The British Turf and the Men who Have Made it: Being an Historical and Contemporary Work on Racing in the British Isles from Its Earliest Inception to the Present Day (Public domain ed.). Biographical Press.

Bibliography

• Cherrington, Ernest Hurst (1924). Standard Encyclopedia of the Alcohol Problem. Vol. 1. American Issue Publishing Company.

• People from Derby
• Woman's Christian Temperance Union people
• English temperance activists
• 1840 births
• 1922 deaths