Kathleen Lower

Florence Kathleen Lower was Lord Mayor of Oxford in 1965–66. Lower was the first woman to be Lord Mayor of Oxford.

Early life

Florence Kathleen Coppard was born in Brighton in 1905 to James Coppard & his wife Florence.

Lower was a Labour Alderman, and was the first woman to be elected Lord Mayor for the year 1965–66. Four women had previously been Mayors of Oxford, before the office was raised to that of Lord Mayor in 1962.
Lower had the honour of driving the last steam railway engine to leave the Oxford depot in 1966. She was awarded the OBE in 1966.

Lower married Marcus Lower in 1929. They had one son, Alan. Marcus Lower was Mayor in 1955–56. She died in Cornwall in 1995, aged 89.