Marion Shimmin

Marion Shimmin was elected in 1933 as the first woman member of the House of Keys representing the constituency of Peel, Isle of Man. She replaced her husband Christopher R. Shimmin who died in January 1933. Both Marion and Christopher were MHKs representing the Manx Labour Party.

Biography

Marion Fallows was born in Manchester to parents Caroline and James Fallows, the second of five children. The family moved around Europe for her father's job, including a three year stint in Łódź, Poland. She studied classical music in Manchester and qualified as a teacher.
She began her career as a music teacher in Salford. Concerned about the plight of women living in poverty, particularly regarding domestic violence, she joined the Temperance movement and documented conditions of Liverpool and Manchester slums. Her family encouraged her to take a music opportunity in Vienna, where in 1904 she met Christopher R. Shimmin, a Manxman who also worked in the anti-poverty sector in Liverpool. They married in 1906 at St Aidan's Church in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire and settled in Peel, Isle of Man. She taught music at the Methodist school in Tynwald Road.