Beatrice Lilian Tate – a biography

Beatrice Lilian Tate (née Line) (1896-1969), was a Labour Party politician, member of the London County Council and Mayor of Bethnal Green.

Born in Shoreditch on 9^th February 1896, she was the daughter of Robert Line, a hairdresser from Hoxton. By 1911 the family had moved to Shepherdess Walk, Hoxton where she was working as a belt maker. In 1918 she married Henry Edward Tate (1883-1978) and moved to Bethnal Green[1].

In her obituary in The Hackney Gazette, it was  noted that ‘Mrs Tate will be remembered for her valiant spirit during World War II. She was both an A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions) warden and civil defence worker and regularly took part in control room activities. During the blitz, she was often to be seen braving the hazards, taking out a mobile canteen to tired and weary rescue workers and bomb victims.’[2]

Beatrice Tate was the elected representative on the London County Council for Bethnal Green[3] for 12 years. She was elected in April 1949, and served four terms until 1961. During this time she served on the Welfare and Health Committees and the LCC’s Divisional Health Committee (1949-50) and the Central Council for District Nursing during 1957.

Beatrice Tate was also earlier elected to the Bethnal Green Metropolitan Council in 1934, serving until 1965 when the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green was abolished and merged into the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. During this time she served as Mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green for 1952 and 1953, and Deputy Mayor in the following year. She was also Mayoress to her husband, leading local political figure, Mr Henry Edward Tate, three times mayor of Bethnal Green (1934-6 and 1949-50), and the only Freeman of the Borough[4], and who was also awarded an OBE in 1964. A painting of Henry Edward (Harry) Tate by Albert Edward Turpin, the artist, window cleaner and Mayor of Bethnal Green 1946-47, can be found here.[5]

According to her obituary in the East London Advertiser, ‘Mrs Tate was keenly interested in the provision of new and better homes for the people, and one of the functions which gave her satisfaction during her year of office was to lay the foundation stones of Stafford Cripps House in Globe Road and of James Middleton House in Middleton Street on the same day.’[6]

Of note in her obituary in the Hackney Gazette (op.cit), Beatrice Tate was also chairperson and vice-chairperson of ‘numerous of the Council’s committees. She was active in the welfare of the elderly, helping found a club which carried her name in the early 1950’s, as well as youth work’. She also ‘served on the House Committee of Bethnal Green Hospital, several charities and a number of local school governing and management bodies. She was for three years the Council’s representative of the Parmiter’s School Foundation, as well as, during 1961-63, on the Council of University House Settlement.’ Furthermore, she was described ‘as a stalwart and a much loved and respected citizen of Bethnal Green’, as well as ‘an ardent social welfare worker and active Socialist[7]. As such Bethnal Green Labour Party issued the following tribute: ‘Her humanity and understanding of the people knew no bounds. And her work for the people of Bethnal Green, young and old, went far beyond party boundaries.’

The above information was kindly researched at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives by Angela Cooper, former Nursery Nurse and Senior Teaching Assistant at Beatrice Tate School.

 

[1] https://london.fandom.com/wiki/Beatrice_Lillian_Tate

[2] Hackney Gazette, 14.03.1969

[3] Bethnal Green was a constituency used for elections to the London County Council between 1949 and the council’s abolition in 1965.

[4] https://london.fandom.com/wiki/Harry_E_Tate

[5] https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/harry-tate-18831978-the-freeman-of-bethnal-green-133402/search/actor:turpin-albert-edward-19001964/page/1/view_as/grid

[6] East London Advertiser 14.02.1969

[7] Hackney Gazette, 14.03.1969