Mrs Robert Simpson (1854-1941)
(Sarah) Louise Simpson, known as Louie, was Plymouth’s first woman magistrate, and before the amalgamation of the Three Towns in 1914, she had been the first woman appointed to the old borough’s Board of Guardians, in 1898. The wife of Dr Robert Simpson, she was a noted suffrage and temperance activist, as well as being, in 1898, the first woman appointed to the old Plymouth borough Board of Guardians. A friend of both Rosa Bale and Mabel Ramsay, her interest in the rehabilitation of women and juveniles saw her name put forward to be one of the first tranche of 172 women magistrates appointed in July 1920. The previous year, she had been elected as the Labour and Co-operative Association Councillor for the Stoke ward, alongside Clara Daymond. Politically, she was opposed to Nancy Astor – but the two respected each other. Indeed Nancy was delighted when Louie stood as the Labour candidate for West Dorset in 1923, and genuinely regretted she was not successful. In 1921, her husband Dr Robert Simpson, left for London – but Louie Simpson retained her seat on the Plymouth Bench until 1936, returning regularly to do her magistrate duties. Her legacy was one of activism for the poor and distressed.