It wasn’t envisaged that she would have to do much,
perhaps just turning up at the annual meeting, but as time went on she began to
play an increasingly important role, and when the club hosted the 1947 ‘Wallabies’
her fame went far beyond the boundaries of Cornwall. On
being invited to become President she at first felt it was beyond her, but people
were so kind and helpful that she never felt out of place and enjoyed every minute
of it – which was just as well for she held the post for an amazing 21 years.
Being the only lady President of a rugby club in Britain she became very well-known
and was the first to make a speech in the President’s room at Twickenham. Tweed-clad
and wearing the Pirates scarf, she was seldom missing from her seat in front of
the stand at the Mennaye Field, watching John Kendall-Carpenter and ‘Ginger’
Williams (both club internationals) with the same intentness that was given to
those in the reserves. She later recalled that she remembered
the ground when it was a tip for the quarries. “My first visit”, she
said, “was during the war when the Duke of Kent did a Civil Defence inspection.
I didn’t realise then that I was going to spend a great many more hours there”. The
Pirates had a reputation ‘par excellence’ for hosting visiting teams,
and it was Mavis who set the highest standards. It came naturally to her and thousands
of players over the years received a genuinely warm welcome which made them feel
at home. Besides being the President, other important roles
were also performed. She was Chairman of the Ladies Committee, Membership Secretary,
and served on the Social Committee and Summer Activities Committee. She was also
a member of the Red Cross, a Civil Defence warden, a fund-raiser for the cricket
club, and a member of the House Committee of West Cornwall Hospital. It
was no surprise that she was awarded a B.E.M. in the 1962 New Year’s Honours
List, whilst in 1963-64 she was the Mayoress of Penzance when Mrs. Crosbie Garstin,
widow of the eminent novelist, was Mayor. Following
her death in the early seventies the Mavis Lawry Memorial Fund was set up, culminating
in the opening of the Mavis Lawry Lounge in March, 1978. It was considered a magnificent
addition and a fitting tribute to the unique contribution made by a very special
lady.
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