Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson Of Rievaulx

Gladys Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx (née Baldwin), was born on 12 January 1916 in Diss, Norfolk. She was the daughter of Reverend Daniel Baldwin, a Congregationalist minister. Wilson attended Milton Mount College, a boarding school near Crawley, and left at age 16 after completing her education there. Subsequently, she enrolled in a secretarial course for two years.

Her early employment included work as a stenographer at Lever Brothers in Port Sunlight. On 1 January 1940, she married Harold Wilson at Mansfield College, Oxford. The couple had two sons: Robin, born in 1943, and Giles, born in 1948.

Wilson's published literary works include a collection of poetry titled "Selected Poems," released in 1970. In 1976, she served as one of three judges for the Booker Prize, alongside Walter Allen and Francis King.

Her husband, Harold Wilson, served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice. According to the Dictionary of National Biography entry for Harold Wilson, authored by Roy Jenkins, Wilson was described as being dissatisfied with political life, which influenced cultural references such as the spoof "Mrs Wilson's Diary" in Private Eye magazine. Politically, Wilson personally opposed the UK's membership in the European Communities in the 1975 referendum, voting against continued membership, and supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Harold Wilson passed away on 24 May 1995 from colorectal cancer and Alzheimer's disease after a decade of illness. They were married for 55 years. After her husband's death, Wilson continued to reside in Westminster, London, near Downing Street, and maintained their holiday home in the Isles of Scilly.

Wilson remained engaged with public life into her later years. She attended the funeral of politician Michael Foot in 2010 at age 94, and in 2013, at age 97, she attended the funeral of Margaret Thatcher.

Mary Wilson passed away after a stroke at St Thomas' Hospital in London on 6 June 2018, at the age of 102 years and 145 days. She was the longest-lived spouse of a British prime minister and was the first to live beyond 100 years of age. Her ashes were interred with her husband's at Old Town Churchyard in St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, following a private service and cremation.

Her published works also include "New Poems" (1979) and "A Journey to Scilly" (2004).