International Women's Day 2025: Ten inspirational women of Shropshire we must remember

International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8 each year, is a global day of celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women across the world. 

Throughout Shropshire’s rich history, there have been many notable women with remarkable achievements that we must remember - from heading up the UK Space Agency to founding Save the Children. 

Here are a few of Shropshire’s most inspirational women to remember this International Women’s Day. 

Dr Alice Bunn

Now the chief executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), Dr Bunn was educated at Shrewsbury High School and later Shrewsbury Sixth Form College.

She made the move up north after and graduated with a degree in  metallurgy from the University of Leeds in 1995. 

In 2011, Dr Bunn joined the UK Space Agency where she would eventually be named international director.  

Tiffany Calver 

British DJ and presenter Tiffany Calver was born in Telford but moved to London in her teenage years. 

Calver has hosted shows for Kiss FM and began as a regular on BBC Radio 1Xtra in January 2019. 

British magazine DJMag awarded her rap show on 1Xtra “Best Radio Show” in 2020. 

Betty Webb 

Code breaker Betty Webb spent much of her childhood on the Herefordshire side of Richard's Castle, in between the counties, but studied domestic science at Radbrook College in Shrewsbury at the start of World War II. 

As soon as she turned 18, Webb joined the British Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's branch of the British Army. 

It kickstarted her career and Webb later contributed to the breaking of the German cipher Enigma, worked on intercepted Japanese messages and was even sent to Washington to support the American war effort.

In 2015, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). 

Hermione Baddeley 

Actress Hermione Baddeley was born in the market town of Broseley in 1906.  

Over the course of her impressive career, Baddeley was nominated for a number of top awards at some of the most prestigious ceremonies. 

Her performance in Room at the Top earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards. She was also in the running for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore. 

Mary Webb 

Born in 1881 in the Shropshire village of Leighton, Mary Webb was an English romance novelist and poet. 

Much of her work was inspired by our stunning county and the countryside. 

Webb’s best-known piece of literature was her historical romance Precious Bane, first released in 1924. It won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize in 1926.

Marion Kennedy

Born in 1836, Marion Kennedy was a scholar and studied classics from Shrewsbury. 

An advocate for women’s rights and higher education for women, Kennedy financed the Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women in Cambridge. 

This later became part of Newnham College, where she also worked as an executive secretary for a period of time. 

Dame Mary Beard 

An English classicist specialising in Ancient Rome, Dame Mary Beard was born in Much Wenlock in 1955. 

Beard was also educated at Shrewsbury High School and later attended Cambridge University, where she went on to become a professor. 

She has written more than 20 books, including the bestsellers SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome and Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. 

Anna Richardson 

Born in Wellington, Telford, Anna Richardson is a television presenter, writer and journalist. 

Many will know the household name for being a fixture on many Channel 4 shows including Supersize vs Superskinny, Supershoppers and Naked Attraction. 

Carol Decker 

Singer Carol Decker might have been born in Liverpool but she attended Wellington Girls' High School in Telford. 

In 1986, the talent formed the pop-rock band T'Pau in Shrewsbury, which reached unimaginable heights over the next decade. 

Decker is still active today. In 2025, she participated in the sixth series of The Masked Singer as "Tattoo" but was eliminated in the fourth episode. 

Eglantyne Jebb

Born in 1876 in Ellesmere, this British social reformer founded Save the Children at the end of the First World War. 

Jebb also drafted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which is sometimes known as the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child. 

This document promotes child rights and was introduced to the League of Nations in 1924 and later adopted by the United Nations in 1959.