JEAN Lilley became Mayoress almost a year ago, as her time in office passed she found herself delving deeper and deeper into the history of the mayoral chain.

Standing alongside current encumbant, Councillor Tommy Mann as the pair attended functions and events throughout the borough, the Mayoress often caught herself glancing down and wondering about the lives, loves and fortunes of those who had previously worn the 18 carat gold.

She also felt she had a duty to learn something of its past and meaning.
Jean Lilley told LookBack: “The interest was really prompted with the fact I was going to wear it for a year.
“The adults are just as curious as the children, but the kids have a more innocent approach.
“They’ll ask whether I sleep in it, or if I have servants.
“After a while, I just thought somebody is going to ask me what it all means, and I’d feel a fool if I didn’t have the information, so that’s how it all started.”
Originally in Southport and Sefton’s civic history, no chain was reserved for the Mayoress and only the Mayor was granted such an honour.

But this all changed in 1897, when, to mark the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria’s reign a competition was opened among the town’s jewellers to create a design befitting high office.
It was reported that 50 drawings were submitted in total and these were judged by a sitting panel.

A stalemate resulted however, as each judge chose a different design as their favourite.
The current Mayoress of Sefton said: “They all favoured different chains so they asked the Mayoress to pick one, and she picked the one I’m wearing.
“It was to be worn for the rest of time by all the ladies that followed her in this prestigious office.”

The Mayoress in question was a Charlotte Pollard, wife of Mayor Dr GH Pollard, a man who grew up the son of millworkers in Burnley but went on to become a MP, physician, lawyer, Mayor of Southport and eventually a knight.

She chose a design by William Stewart that featured intricate metal work, delicate seed pearls and demantoid garnets brought from the Ural mountains in Russia.
Jean Lilley said: “It’s quite humbling because when I put it on, I look at it and I wonder, what did it feel like Charlotte when you put this round your neck for the first time, the first time a mayoress had ever worn a chain.”

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