A PLAQUE is set to be unveiled at Llandudno Town Hall next week to celebrate the life of a pioneering native of Llandudno.

The plaque, to be officially unveiled at 3pm on December 11, celebrates the remarkable life of Martha Hughes Cannon.

Until recently Martha Hughes Cannon was unknown in her hometown of Llandudno, having left for the United States with her family aged just four.

Converts to the Mormon faith, the family was intent on making the long journey to Utah, and Martha eventually became one of only three women to train as a doctor so that there would be women doctors for a new maternity hospital in Salt Lake City.

However, soon after taking up this post she secretly entered into a polygamous marriage with Angus Cannon - she was his fourth wife and became pregnant.

At this time there was a wave of anti-Mormon sentiment in the United States and she was subpoenaed to give evidence against him, but rather than do that, she fled, coming back to the UK before travelling through Europe with her young daughter.

Finally, the warrant for her arrest expired and she returned to the US and Utah, where she set up a training college for nurses.

Her relationship with her husband continued and she became pregnant again – this forced her to yet again leave the state but she soon played a leading role in the struggle for women's suffrage, which was achieved in Utah in 1896.

At the following election, Martha was one of five Democratic candidates campaigning to represent Salt Lake City in the new Utah Senate.

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Standing against them were five Republicans, one of whom was her husband Angus Cannon.

Martha and the Democrats swept the board, and she became the first female state senator elected in the United States.

Her most famed work as a senator was in the field of public health - Cannon was the author of Utah sanitation laws and was a founder and member of Utah's first State Board of Health.

She remained a prominent figure, but due to the illegality of polygamous marriages, was eventually forced to resign her seat upon becoming pregnant once more.

Soroptimist International Llandudno and District, who have worked tirelessly to see the plaque be created, said of the unveiling: “Thanks to the work of Will Aaron this is soon to be put right.

“He invited Llandudno Soroptimists to become involved in raising the profile of this lady because he was aware of the work already done in 2018, by the local branch of this International Women's Organisation, to get another plaque unveiled in Llandudno to mark the Cocoa House, where the first meeting of the Society for Women's Suffrage in Wales took place in 1907.

“It is very appropriate that these two plaques will be within a few hundred yards of each other and together they highlight the importance of Llandudno in the struggle for women's suffrage.

“Three times pregnancies had hindered her career development, but she fought many of the battles that women are still fighting today for careers, a fairer balance between domestic demands and work opportunities, gender equality and the right of women to lead rewarding lives.

“It is very appropriate that she should be recognised in Llandudno and Llandudno Soroptimists are pleased to have been invited, as an organisation which aims to educate, empower and enable women, to assist in this project.”

Shortly after the unveiling, a statue of Martha Hughes Cannon will be opened at the National Statuary Hall in Washington D.C.

There is already a plaque in the centre of Salt Lake City to commemorate her achievements, which reads: 'In memory of Doctor Martha Hughes Cannon. Pioneer Doctor. First Woman State Senator in the U.S. Author of Utah Sanitation laws. Member of the first State Board of Health.'