BREAKING THROUGH THE GLASS CEILING – AGAIN AND AGAIN
Born Ena Joyce St Clare Collymore in Spanish Town, Jamaica, (when it was still a British colony), her parents were Madeline Louis and Frank Collymore. She had three older siblings.
Her mother was a postmistress and her father a stationmaster on the Jamaican National Railways. As a young man, Frank had lost an arm when he fell from a moving wagon.
Frank died whilst Ena was still a young girl. Her mother moved the whole of the family to Kingston. There, Madeline became a postmistress. Ena’s two older sisters quit school to run the household.
Ena joined the Girl Guides. She was to retain her membership for the rest of her life.
Her mother died shortly after Ena had graduated from high school and so she went to live with one of her married sisters, before moving into the YWCA.
Ena got a job working as a bookkeeper for a bakery, but the pay was poor.
She applied for a job working as a clerk in the courthouse. She was turned down; being told it was not a job suitable for a woman. Nevertheless, she repeatedly re-applied until the court authorities finally gave in and employed her.
Ena was so good at her job that she was quickly re-assigned to the Kingston Criminal Court – the highest court in Jamaica.
When the Second World War broke out, Ena saw an advert for the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). They were the first all-female British army regiment. Even Princess Elizabeth joined them, being trained in vehicle mechanics – to ‘do her bit’.
Ena had to take an exam, passed it with flying colours, and then she enlisted.
Ena was set to work in the stenography pool (whilst also receiving training to become a nurse).
She found her new position extremely boring and asked to be transferred to the Anti-Aircraft Service.
This meant that at the age of twenty-six, she was sent to Europe, with twenty-four other West Indian women. They travelled by boat.
Ena loved the dances held every evening during the journey.
She also survived a torpedo attack on the ship.
When she arrived in the UK, Ena was stunned at how different it was to Jamaica (and how cold). Her daughter, Marguerite, related, “As a black female entering Britain to join the ATS, it must have been a real culture shock.”
Ena was placed in the typing pool. She complained about her role. “I didn’t come to England just to type – I could have stayed in Jamaica and done that.”
Consequently, Ena was trained as a radar operator. She was the first West Indian to qualify for this job. “There weren’t many women in the army at that time and very few women of colour…I wanted to do my part, and I felt special.”
Ena lived in a house with three other ATS girls, one called Nora Marsh. They became close friends.
A newspaper wrote an article on Ena used her full name. Soon afterwards, an elderly lady called Mrs Collymore wrote to the army asking to be put in touch with Ena. The army duly obliged.
Mrs Collymore invited Ena to her home for Christmas – “Bring any friends you like.” Ena took her house mates. As everyone was suffering from shortages and rationing, they were stunned to find a full spread put on for them. Ena later reflected that it was her best Christmas ever.
In 1943, Ena was introduced to the Princess Royal (Princess Elizabeth), when she visited the Colonial Office.
The women working for the ATS were known as ‘Ack-Ack Girls’, because some of them operated anti-aircraft guns. The name was applied to every ATS girl, even if (like Ena) they never fired a shot in anger.
Ena was then sent to Belgium, working close to the frontline. It was extremely dangerous as her station was regularly under fire. Her job was to track V-1 rockets (known as Doodlebugs), so they could be destroyed over the sea before reaching the UK.
When Belgian liberation was secured, Ena returned to England, where she worked at the War Office until 1946.
Once she had been demobbed, Ena began law studies at Gray’s Inn. Whilst doing this, she also enrolled at the University of London to do a course on juvenile delinquency.
At Gray’s Inn, Ena was the only woman on the debating team (and there has never been another one since), and at the university she was on the Student Union Executive body.
Ena was called to the bar in 1948. She immediately returned to Jamaica, where she worked in the criminal courts.
There, she had a succession of promotions, becoming Deputy Court Clerk in St. Mary’s Parish and eventually the first female Court Clerk in Jamaica – in St. James’ Parish.
Hundreds of people would come to court just to see her. “I was looked upon as quite a novelty for a number of years.”
She remembered some resistance from a few male law officers but said the vast majority totally supported her.
Ena married Victor Woodstock, a Civil Servant. They had three children: Careth, Robert and Marguerite.
Ena then became the Assistant Crown Solicitor. She was determined that nobody could ever say she wasn’t doing her job properly because she was a woman, so she would take her children to work. They sat under the table, at her feet whilst she was in court. “There was nothing I couldn’t do as a woman.”
Eventually, Ena became the first female Resident Magistrate in Jamaica, before being appointed to the Juvenile Court System. Ena was put in charge of the East Circuit, alongside two other women, Ena Allen (North West Circuit) and Joyce Groves (South Circuit).
Ena built a reputation as a fair and honest judge.
Continual promotions also led to Ena winning the Order of Distinction as well as being awarded an MBE.
She was sent to the Turks and Caicos Islands to become a magistrate. It was whilst there (in 1977), that Ena officially retired – although she carried on working in the Turks and Caicos Islands for a while.
Despite her busy working life, Ena was very active socially. She was heavily involved in the Girl Guide movement, becoming District Commissioner, before rising to become the Chief Commissioner for Jamaica.
She worked extremely hard in order to help the guiding movement spread. Ena was proud of the fact that by the time her tenure finished, there was both a Girl Guides and Brownie pack in every parish in Jamaica.
She also introduced summer camps for disadvantaged children – and would attend them herself if work commitments permitted her.
Ena was awarded the Silver Bee (the highest guiding award in Jamaica), followed by the Silver Fish award – the highest worldwide commendation of the Girl Guides.
Ena also sat on her local parish council and was Chair of the Civil Service Housing Company.
She also became President of the Caribbean Area Council of Soroptimist International, a women’s voluntary movement. In Jamaica they campaigned successfully to end the discrepancies in salaries between men and women, and also to ensure that there were legal rights for children born out of wedlock, making them equal to all other young people.
Ena was a regular church goer and read her bible every day.
Ena’s husband, Victor, died in 2000.
Ena’s daughter, Marguerite Collymore-Riley, followed in her footsteps, becoming a KC (King’s Counsel) in Barbados.
The next generation also continued the trend with three of her four grandchildren, Amanda, Raisa and Spencer, also being called to the bar.
Reflecting on her past, Ena said, “I helped show what women could achieve, despite there being no female role models at the senior level of society.”
“Women can do the same as men. Don’t limit yourself because you’re a woman.”
Once Ena reached a hundred years old, she insisted on wearing her pearls for every special occasion.
As she got older, Ena spent her time living with family in both Jamaica and Barbados. She was exercising three times a week even when she was 105 – and still danced every day.
At the time of her death, Ena was the oldest female Second World War veteran. Local papers called her a ‘Caribbean Icon’.
At Ena’s death, her family issued a statement. It read, “Only as adults have we begun to understand the enormity of our mother’s achievements and the inspiring effect she had on us. Not surprisingly, her determination, strength and pioneering attitude enabled her to succeed whilst serving in the British army, and then in the legal profession. We’re incredibly proud of her.”
The British Army sent a message to her funeral – “Long live your legacy, Mrs E C-W.”
RIP – Revered (West) Indian Pioneer
