Gabrielle Davis

{{Infobox politician

| image = Image:Gabrielle Davis.jpg

| caption = Davis in 2010

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1938|12|7}}

| birth_place = Canterbury, Kent, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2025|2|24|1938|12|7}}

| death_place =

}}

Mary G. W. Davis (née Taylor; 7 December 1938 – 24 February 2025), known as Gabrielle Davis, was a British Conservative politician who was a councillor for Canterbury, as well as serving as Sheriff of Canterbury from 2009 to 2010. She was notable for volunteering to head the "defence of our heritage" movement. This action moved against a vote by the Canterbury City Council Executive Committee on 21 January 2010 to close Herne Bay Museum and Gallery and other repositories of local heritage for the sake of saving £112,600 per year.{{cite news|url=http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/hernebay|title=Herne Bay Times|date=21 January 2010|work=Call for Helpers to Save Museum: Sheriff volunteers to head defence of our Heritage / Recycling Sack Budget U-Turn|publisher=Media UK|pages=4; 6|accessdate=22 January 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=2107|website=Canterbury City Council Online|date=November 2009|title=Budget Consultation|accessdate=2 December 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218124527/http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=2107|archivedate=18 February 2010}}

Background

Davis was born on 7 December 1938 in Canterbury,{{Refn|Mary G.W. Davis née Taylor (1938–2025). GRO index: Births Dec 1938 Taylor Mary G.W. (mother surname Roberts) Canterbury 2a 1738. Marriages 1984 Taylor Mary G W (spouse Noel M. Davis) Canterbury 16 289|group=nb}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/suffering-with-extra-netball-a7269/ |website=Kent Online |date=5 February 2001|title=Suffering with extra netball}} and lived in Herne Bay, attending La Sainte Union Convent School which was run by the Sisters of La Sainte Union des Sacrés-Coeurs, and is now closed. She started as a journalist on local papers, including the Coventry Telegraph, before moving on to national titles, including the magazine Women’s Realm and the Daily Mail,{{Cite web |date=2024-02-02 |title=Author Gabrielle celebrates National Storytelling Week at Timperley Nursing Home |url=https://kingsleyhealthcare.co.uk/kingsley-life/news/author-gabrielle-celebrates-national-storytelling-week-at-timperley-nursing-home/ |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=Kingsley Healthcare |language=en-GB}} and interviewed many celebrities including Camilla-Parker Bowles.{{Cite web |author=Warren, Gerry |date=2025-03-07 |title=Tributes to former Herne Bay councillor and Sheriff of Canterbury Gabrielle Davis on death aged 86. |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/staunch-defender-of-district-s-heritage-dies-aged-86-321109/ |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=Kent Online |language=en}} She lived in Herne Bay, wrote the Beltinge column for Herne Bay Gazette and supported causes concerning pets and wildlife. She was fundraising officer for six years at Cats Protection in Canterbury, and was Trustee for Animals Worldwide.{{cite web|url=http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=120|title=Canterbury City Council Online|year=2009|work=The Sheriff of Canterbury|publisher=CCC|accessdate=25 January 2010}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}

Duties

Davis was elected a member of Canterbury City Council in 2003 and Sheriff of Canterbury in May 2009 and was a ward member for Reculver. Until May 2010, she was the latest in the line of Sheriffs of Canterbury which goes back to 1461.{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Martin |title=Sheriff of Canterbury |url=https://martinharrisonsmedalresearch.weebly.com/uploads/8/7/8/2/8782416/sheriffs_of_canterbury.pdf |website=martinharrisonsmedalresearch.weebly |publisher=Martin Harrison's Medal Research |access-date=10 March 2025}} In past centuries the post involved tax-collecting and police work, but since 1974 the Sheriff has been relieved of those duties and now represents the City at functions and other civic duties. The postholder is elected at the annual Council meeting in May, for one year.{{cite web|url=http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=121|archive-url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20100402114801mp_/http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 April 2010|website=Canterbury City Council Online|year=2009|title=The office of sheriff|publisher=CCC|accessdate=25 January 2010}} In May 2010 she was succeeded as Sheriff of Canterbury by Councillor Sally Pickersgill.{{cite web|website=Canterbury City Council Online |url=http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=5463 |title=The Sheriff of Canterbury |accessdate=16 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027091700/http://canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=5463 |archivedate=27 October 2010 }}

Defence of our heritage

In October 2009, Canterbury City Council said it had to save £3.5m for budgeting purposes.{{cite news|url=http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentish_gazette/news/2009/october/30/council_budget_charges.aspx|work=Kentish Gazette|date=30 October 2009|title=Savage cuts and hikes in charges revealed by Canterbury City Council|accessdate=2 December 2009}} {{cite news|last=|title=Is keeping museum open a realistic aim for its supporters?|website=Kentish Gazette|location=Canterbury, Kent|date=26 November 2009|page=10}} The executive committee made its final recommendation to close the museum on 21 January 2010; the final vote to be taken on 18 February 2010. Councillor Davis was a founder-member of Herne Bay Improvement and Conservation Trust, and some of her colleagues on the Trust were members of Herne Bay Historical Society, which has charge of most of the collections at Herne Bay Museum. In response to the Council vote to close the museum, she volunteered to head "defence of our heritage", in spite of the fact that the vote for closure was made by her Conservative colleagues on the council.

The Herne Bay Museum and Gallery reopened in 2015 as the Seaside Museum Herne Bay.{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://theseasidemuseumhernebay.org/about-2/ |website=Seaside Museum Herne Bay|date=28 November 2016 |access-date=10 March 2025}}

Personal life and death

Gabrielle Davis was married to Noel for 15 years before his death. In 2023, Davis moved to a care home in Cheshire to be close to her family. She died on 24 February 2025, at the age of 86.{{cite news |title=Gabrielle Davis (née Taylor) |url=https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/marketplace/advert/davis-notices_61419 |access-date=12 March 2025 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=11 March 2025}}

Bibliography

{{Cite book |last1=Wallace |first1=Ann |title=Royal mothers: from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Princess Diana |last2=Taylor |first2=Gabrielle |date=1987 |publisher=Piatkus |isbn=978-0-86188-505-3 |location=London}}

Notes

References

External links

[http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=120 Canterbury City Council Online: Gabrielle Davis page]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
[https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20100402114801mp_/http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm Canterbury City Council Online: The office of sheriff]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20111008021033/http://www2.canterbury.gov.uk/committee/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=114&MId=6363&Ver=4 Canterbury City Council Online: Agenda for Exec Committee 21 Jan 2010] (includes link to audio recording of meeting)

{{s-ttl|title = Sheriff of Canterbury

|years = May 2009 – May 2010}}

Category:1938 births

Category:2025 deaths

Category:British women in politics

Category:People from Herne Bay, Kent

Category:Sheriffs of Canterbury