Joyce Scroxton, 98: Magistrate who inspired girls to be world leaders

In December 1936 Joyce Smith wrote that she was “overcome with happiness,” at the news of the birth of Princess Alexandra.

Then 16, and a girl guide, she confided her innermost thoughts to a burgundy Letts schoolgirl diary, emblazoned with lacrosse sticks. Inside, a page listed potential careers open to girls, ranging from nursing to becoming an electrician.

Joyce, a scholarship pupil at Sydenham High School in southeast London, was about to enter the “Secretarial Sixth Form”, taking classes in geography, shorthand, economics and typing.

Her first job, at the Home Office, was indeed as a secretary. Yet for the energetic Joyce this proved to be only the first rung to a life of intense activity. She threw herself 100 per cent into many voluntary…

Article source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/readers-lives/joyce-scroxton-98-magistrate-who-inspired-girls-to-be-world-leaders-n9dqf00pf