Bideford woman granted Freedom of the Town

Bideford-born Valerie Morrish has become the first person since 1973 - and only the fourth woman in the history of the borough - to be granted the Honorary Freedom of the Town.

When Valerie saw an advert for the position of beadle - a ceremonial role which involves assisting the mayor and performing a whole host of civic duties - back in 2009, her interest was immediately piqued.

As a child, she had regularly attended remembrance parades in honour of her grandmothers’ brothers who were killed during World War I. And years later, she still retained a passion for the proud civic traditions of her hometown.

Three years previously, Valerie had retired from her job as a sales advisor and cashier at Portman Building Society, giving her the time and energy needed to devote to the role. And even though a woman had never held the position before, she was determined. “I wouldn’t have taken no for an answer,” Valerie tells the Gazette.

Luckily for Bideford, Valerie’s gender didn’t prove too much of an obstacle, and she was appointed as the town’s beadle later that year. Taking keenly to civic life, she took on the additional role of macebearer the following year, shouldering responsibility for everything from town hall tours to ceremonial processions.

After serving Bideford for 16 years, Valerie has decided to step down from both roles. In gratitude for her long and dedicated service, Town Clerk Paul Swan presented her with the Freedom of the Town, a prestigious honour that hasn’t been granted in over 50 years.

For Valerie, it represented one of the proudest moments in her long career.

Looking back on the list of previous recipients, who are known as Freemen, it reads as a roster of Bideford legends, including the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and the near-mythic John Strange, who dodged death three times and guided Bideford through the bubonic plague - eventually losing his own life in the process.

But while all these men - and a small handful of women - certainly accomplished great things, there is a common theme among them: largely, they all came from positions of wealth and privilege within the town.

Proud of her working class roots, Valerie is delighted to have earned her place among the borough’s greats.

When the Gazette met Valerie in the historic Mayor’s Parlour, her passion for Bideford’s heritage shone through. In fact, one of her favourite parts of the job has been showing children around the town hall, helping to inspire the next generation. And the artefacts housed there are genuinely awe-inspiring: the mayor and mayoress’s chains, heavy with gold and resplendent
with sapphires, and a silver mace bearing a worn Tudor seal, quite possibly handed over to the town by Queen Elizabeth I herself.

But for Valerie, the real treasure has been the experiences that she has enjoyed along the way.

Highlights have included meeting the king and carrying the Civic Sword at Royal Wootton Bassett, and - in 2022 - becoming only the second ever woman to be appointed Prime Warden of the Guild of Mace Bearers of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Even with these achievements, though, Valerie was still shocked to receive the Freedom of the Town, which had been arranged as a surprise to mark her retirement.

Now, her portrait hangs in the Town Hall alongside those of men such as Carnegie and Strange - having earned her right
to be celebrated alongside them.

Although she has now retired from her civic duties, Valerie will look back on the past 16 years with pride.

“In this life, you find your niche,” she told the Gazette. “And this was mine.”