Florence "Jean" May Winder (1909-2006) (née Hayward) was the first woman to hold a permanent post as a parliamentary reporter for Hansard, the official record of debate in the Houses of Parliament in the UK.
[4] Hayward married Lieutenant Ralph Spearing Winder on 4 October 1940 in London but was widowed when he died on active service in 1941.
[4] On 18 January 1944, Florence Winder was appointed as a temporary reporter for the House of Commons' Hansard.
The editor, Percy Cole, made it clear he had only appointed a woman as there were no men available.
[2] The following year, in November 1945, she was made permanent, with Cole admitting she was a "capable and efficient" reporter.