Jane Gummer

JANE Gummer, who died aged 77 while on holiday in the Lake District, devoted herself to helping others and was tireless in fulfilling what she regarded as her social responsibilities.

A wise counsellor, she immersed herself in charitable works and seemed always available to those in need of her time and help. Jane was one of those busy people with the happy knack of making everyone she met feel special.

Her high reputation was built on her many qualities, among which were steadfastness and reliability. When she said she would do something, she did it, and if she said she would be somewhere, she was.

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A former chairman of Batley and Dewsbury Magistrates and a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, she was a patron and former president of the women's section of the Royal British Legion in West and South Yorkshire. She was chairman of the Mirfield Safe Anchor Trust which provides trips on the waterways for people with special needs, and of the Spenborough Forget Me Not Fund which provides aid for ex-servicemen and their dependents, and she was the first woman to chair the

governors of Batley Grammar School.

Born in Gomersal, Jane went to Winfield Mount Grammar School and then to Leeds University, obtaining her law degree in 1956.

In 1959 she married Peter Gummer, who, after his retirement, gave her all the support he could – so much so that they were seen as a team.

She became a JP on the Dewsbury Bench in 1970, being chairman from 1997 to 2001, and she was also deputy chairman of a national committee of the Magistrate's Association.

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As a result of her work on the Bench, she became involved in the Safe Anchor Trust which is based at the Shepley Bridge Marina, Mirfield, and was set up in 1995 by Les Moss who had been chief probation officer for Kirklees.

Enthusiastic and committed, she helped organise two royal visits to the Trust, one by Princess Anne in 2003 and the second by Prince Edward in 2008.