Elsie Kearsley

Elsie Kearsley from Longridge, near Preston, was the last of the Daily Dispatch Cotton Queens. She was the daughter of a local police sergeant and worked as a weaver at Whittle’s Stone Bridge Mill. After winning the title of Miss Preston, she was crowned the 10th Cotton Queen of Great Britain on 24 June 1939.

Elsie’s first official appearance following her coronation was at John Lewis’s store in Manchester to promote their extensive range of ‘Lancashire goods for Lancashire Folk’ including ‘Horrocks’s Novelty Cottons’ and ‘250 Designs in Crepe Mervyn’. The Manchester Evening News proclaimed, “Here she is at Lewis’s! Now thousands of Lancashire folk who missed the crowning ceremony at Blackpool will have their first opportunities to see the New Cotton Queen.” In June 1939 she visited the new store of John Hawkins & Co in Lancaster accompanied by her chaperone Mrs Houghton. The declaration of war on 3 September 1939 brought an abrupt end to Elsie’s reign. She was informed while at Scarborough on an official engagement that her services would not be required for the foreseeable future and was driven directly home by her chauffeur. She retained her ceremonial tiara, which was later gifted to Longridge Heritage Centre Trust.