20/04/2022
A little bit of historical background on Mary Stanley for your interest!
Mary Stanley was the eldest daughter of a famous Whig (Country gentry 19th century liberals) who became Lord Taunton and MP for that town. She was therefore part of the landed gentry in Somerset living at Over Stowey, related to the Tory dynasty of Heathcote Amorys and eventually married Tory MP for Bridgwater EJ Stanley who also has a street named after him and who was part of the vicious Lord Salisbury Government which often used troops to break up strikes-including in 1896 in Bridgwater. In fact Stanley only had that street – up in Hamp- named after him in the early 90’s after I named a street there Frampton (after the 1896 Brickyard workers strike leader Robert Frampton ) and another councillor added Stanley (the MP of the day) …’for balance’….although not much balance was shown by the troops who cleared the High street of strikers at bayonet point.”
