Amazing story of Harrogate woman who was one of UK’s first female prison governors in a men’s prison
An inspirational Harrogate woman who was one of Britain’s first female prison governors in a men’s prison is to talk about her “triumph against a staggering series of setbacks” and a life of prisoner escapes, riots and hostage taking.
Veronica Bird OBE, who is now retired and lives in Harrogate, travelled from humble beginnings to becoming one of the country’s first females to achieve the rank of Governor in a men’s prison.
Now for the first time in Harrogate, this remarkable figure is to open up on her experiences later this month in an event called From Prison to Palace which promises to shock and move you and, surprisingly, make you laugh.
Born in the 1940s into a family of nine children and living in a tiny house in Barnsley, she joined the police in the 1950s to get away from the abuse she faced at home, first from her brutal coal-miner father and later her brother-in-law who forced her to leave her scholarship place at Ackworth Boarding School just two terms before she was due to sit her GCEs, to become a cheap option working on his market stall.
After four years as a police officer on the beat, Veronica decided to join the prison service and became the fastest promoted prison officer in the country.
She trained in Holloway Women’s Prison before serving in several other women’s institutions around the country before becoming Governor at Leeds Armley Men’s Prison.
In an extraordinary coincidence, Veronica’s prison career mirrored that of Myra Hindley: they ‘entered’ the prison service from very different places on the same day, and they both ‘left’ on November 15, 2002 with Hindley’s death and Victoria’s retirement.
Taking place at the Police Treatment Centre on Harlow Moor Road in Harrogate on Thursday, May 29, the From Prison to Palace event is the work of Harrogate’s Women Winning project, a local partnership between Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Town AFC and Soroptimist International of Harrogate and District.
This year will see Women Winning host a series of events which aim to bring past and present amazing Harrogate women out of the shadows and into the limelight to new audiences.
Paula Stott, one of the Women Winning lead co-ordinators, said: “This is a deeply poignant story of eventual triumph against a staggering series of setbacks.
"Veronica has many highlights in a career spanning 40 years but when prison staff nominate their Governor for a Butler Trust Award you can tell how highly she was regarded.
"She won that award because against all expectations she turned around ‘basket case’ men’s prison HMP Brockhill and what’s more she did it within 12 months.”
In her extraordinary life, Veronica Bird has met many Home Secretaries, was honoured by the late Queen and was asked to help improve conditions in Russian prisons.
Her stories include some of the notorious prisoners she came face to face with including Hindley, the Price Sisters and Charles Bronson (now named Salvador), the country’s longest serving prisoner.
Booking is essential for From Prison to Palace with Veronica Bird OBE.
Tickets, including a welcome drink, are available from: https://www.harrogatefilmsociety.org/event-details/from-prison-to-palace