Appointments diary from their family home in Lord North Street, Westminster, of Mary Wilson, wife of the past and future Prime Minister Harold Wilson, during his phase as Leader of the Opposition to Edward Heath’s Tory government in 1973. From dinners with Lord Goodman to her packing list for the Labour Party Conference in Blackpool in October 1973, this is an intimate, oblique view of life at the apex of British political life. For example, the second week of April seems to have been particularly busy with 'Bl.[ack] tie Dinner No 10' on Monday, 'Prepare sp[eech]. for Barnsley' with a visit to (Harold’s native) Yorkshire on Tuesday and Wednesday and Mary Wilson ending the week as the Labour leader's consort with 'Dinner Mansion House' and the following morning alongside 'H to Czech... Take red hat and dr[ess]' There are longer passages written by Mary Wilson in shorthand - perhaps to shield from prying eyes - Mr Wilson was convinced that the secret state was plotting to destroy him.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Pre-printed diary, one double spread per week. 'M Wilson 5 Lord North St London SW1. 01 - 222 - 4949.' on verso of second blank, following two pages in which Mrs Wilson lists here charity roles in relation to the British Polio Fellowship, 'Launched fund for British Epilepsy Assn', National Poetry Fund etc. Mary Wilson's entries, the domestic and organisational notes of the wife of the Leader of the Opposition who became PM again the following year, are written regularly throughout the volume in several different pen colours together with occasional entries in Harold Wilson's hand - 'H to Leeds' (20 January)' The vast majority of the entries are domestic and family oriented, coordinating the couple's movements and activities: 'Poetry reading L'pool.' (13 Feb) on the day that as Labour leader 'H [goes] to Oxford'. Money, food, gifts and small payments combine with public events 'Hair 10. Ld Chamberlain's dinner at Palace St J. 8' (27 Feb) - a week that ended with 'Cup Final' (Sunderland beat Leeds United 1-0 at Wembley).
Mrs Wilson attended the unveiling of the Churchill statue on November 1, 1973 and the Cenotaph the following week. Just occasionally comes a little relief: 'Keep free'. Particularly interesting are the long lists of clothes and luggage to be taken on Mary Wilson’s many trips with Harold Wilson. These appear at the end of the volume, each item neatly ticked off, once packed. Trips include 'Oxford' with 'Lecture' at the head of the list, 'Manchester and Cumberland', 'Isle of Man', 'Cheltenham', 'Tony's Wedding' and the couple's beloved retreat, 'Scilly'.
PROVENANCE: from the estate of Mary and Harold Wilson, retained in their Westminster flat until Mary Wilson’s death in 2016.
