Mary Louisa Wood, known as the ‘Mother of Manx Music’, has been recommended for inclusion on the Manx Patriots’ Roll of Honour.
The Tynwald Management Committee proposes that the 19th-century musician and educator be formally recognised for her “outstanding contribution to Manx life”.
Born in London in 1839, Wood moved to the Island in 1857. She founded the Isle of Man Fine Arts and Industrial Guild, now known as The Manx Music Festival or simply ‘The Guild’.
An accomplished organist and conductor, she also championed women’s suffrage and faced gender prejudice, including being dismissed as organist of St Thomas’ Church “solely on account of being a woman”.
Wood died in 1925 and is buried in Onchan Churchyard.