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Goole history >Goole's people>Mary Elizabeth Henderson

From the Goole Times, 19th March 1971:

WOMAN OF TALENTS DIES AT 98

A fine collection of paintings has been left by a Goole woman, who will be remembered for the work which decorated her home and life. Mrs Mary Elizabeth Henderson - artist, singer and horse-rider - died at her home at 170 Boothferry Road on Friday. She was 98.

One of the oldest residents of the town, Mrs Henderson moved to Goole from Mirfield when she was five. Nineteen years later she married wholesale grocer Mr W. E. Henderson, who died in 1946.

A prominent horse-rider, Mrs Henderson rode many times in Goole and Snaith shows, and older people will remember her as the young woman who was often to be seen riding side-saddle along Boothferry Road.

So, too, will they remember her soprano voice. The only trained singer in Goole and district 70 years ago, she was a member of Beulah Methodist Church choir for 25 years.

During the First World War she was the instigator of the Red, White and Blue Concert Party which raised well over £400 for the Red Cross by its performances at charity concerts in Goole and the surrounding villages.

Landscapes, dogs, deer and detailed studies of people dominate the walls of her home. She painted for herself and her family, but many of her students benefited from her teaching. A lover of animals, Mrs Henderson was one of the founder members of the RSPCA in Goole more than 50 years ago.

Mrs Henderson - a woman whose memory will walk the streets of Goole for many years - leaves two sons, three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.