Frances Lockett: Britain's First Cotton Queen

In June 1930 a nineteen-year-old weaver from Ashton Brothers in Hyde was crowned the first Cotton Queen of Great Britain, beating hopefuls from seventeen other towns in a grand final at Blackpool’s Tower Circus. Chosen for her beauty, intelligence and work in the cotton industry, Frances Lockett spent a year travelling around the country promoting Lancashire cotton and meeting high-profile figures including David Lloyd George and H. Gordon Selfridge – founder of the famous department store.

Join University of Manchester historian Dr Rebecca Conway to learn more about the Cotton Queen in a multimedia talk with sound and images from Tameside Local Studies and Archives. Documents, photographs and newspaper articles about the contest will be displayed in this exhibition at Tameside Local Studies and Archives throughout the week and on display boards in the Town Hall on 3rd March at the Celebration Day.