Martha Crawford Merington (21 January 1831 – 2 September 1912) was a British politician, notable as the first woman to serve as a Poor Law Guardian.
She continued to live with her parents into her forties, and became involved in the movement for women to take up elected public posts.
Throwing herself into education, Merington became the manager of three schools in Notting Hill, and also established creches for the babies of working women.
[1] Merington stood again in the 1877 elections, and received an improved vote, taking the twelfth of the eighteen seats.
She did not re-enter public life, but later became a private language tutor, living in Croydon and then in Wimbledon, where she died in 1912.