Names on the buses 349 Margaret Hardy

Connections with Brighton and Hove : Margaret Hardy was the first female Mayor of Brighton. Born into a Baptist family in 1874, Margaret Hardy lived with her mother in Preston Road after her father died when she was only twelve years old. During the First World War, she joined the YMCA Women’s Auxiliary giving practical help to the troops in France and was later awarded an MBE for her efforts. Upon returning to Brighton after the war, Margaret was elected as a councillor for the newly created Hollingbury Ward in 1928 — one of only seven women elected to the Council in the interwar period. Margaret became Mayor of Brighton in 1933, and was known for her sense of humour and jovial nature, and whilst described as ‘almost inseparable from the office’ she was also a very visible public servant. In her first year as Mayor she opened both the Sports Stadium, which started life as a swimming pool in West Street, and the Astoria cinema in Gloucester Place. Sadly illness clouded her later years and she died aged 80 in 1954. During the 1940s a new girls’ school in York Place was named after her and was known affectionately as ‘Maggie Aggie’ before merging with the boys’ school Patcham Fawcett. Together they formed Patcham High School. Margaret paved the way as the first woman to attain what was once the most important role in local civic office — though it would take a further two decades before Brighton elected its second female Mayor, Dorothy Stringer OBE.

349 Alexander Dennis Enviro - carried name since October 2020.