Almyra Gray


Almyra Vickers Gray or Almyra Gray was a British suffragist and social reformer.

Early life

Almyra Vickers Gray was born in Sheffield into the influential Vickers family. She was the first child of Albert Vickers and America Helen Horton.

Activist

In 1907 she was elected President of the National Union of Women Workers. She was the first woman magistrate in York and among the first in the country to join the Bench in 1920.
She lobbied for improved maternity services and infant welfare to reduce child mortality. In 1913 she became president of the North and East Riding Federation of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies.
In 1925, a memorial was unveiled at The Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of Saint Peter in York, also known as York Minster, recording the names of over 1,500 women who died in World War I. The money for the memorial was raised by Helen Little and, independently, by Gray. It was speculated that the memorial was approved by the Dean of the cathedral because of the need to restore stained glass windows that had been removed in 1916 for protection against enemy bombs.
In 1927, Shelson Press published a book of Gray's writings entitled ''Papers and diaries of a York family 1764-1839'.'

Personal life

Almyra Gray's husband, Edwin Gray, died in 1929.