Nationality British Name Edith Smith | Role Police officer Died 1924 | |
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Known for first policewoman in U.K. | ||
Edith Smith (1880-1924) was the first female police officer in the United Kingdom with full power of arrest.
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Early life
Smith was born in 1880.
Career
The Women's Police Service was founded in 1914 by Nina Boyle and Margaret Damer Dawson and it was staffed by volunteers. In August 1915, Edith Smith was appointed the first woman police constable in England with full power of arrest. Her duties were to deal with cases where women were involved. She was particularly concerned with trying to reduce the number of prostitutes in Grantham who were attracted there by the nearby army base.
Until January 1919, Edith Smith was the matron nurse at Lindis Nursing Home, Dudley Road in Grantham where she worked seven days a week.
The work in Grantham was contentious amongst the Women's Police Service as Boyle felt that women should not be punished with a curfew when it was the men who were at fault. This led to a disagreement and Boyle left the service and Dawson reformed the service with herself as the new head.
Retirement and death
Smith left the service after working seven days a week for a period of two years. She died after she took an overdose of morphia in 1924, five years after leaving the force. Her life is commemorated in Grantham Museum.