Eight-year old Mary O’Connor was the Batley St. Mary of the Angels May Queen for 1953. She was the daughter of John and Kathleen O’Connor, of Talbot Row, Batley.
Sunday 10 May, the day of the service and procession, was cold but dry, and the sun did appear at intervals. Hundreds lined the route and took part in the service.
The procession, headed by altar boys, toured the streets in the vicinity of the church. After the altar boys, next in the procession order came the infants’ school children, all dressed in white and many carrying lilies.
Then came last year’s May Queen, Patricia Anne Caine, and her retinue. This comprised of her attendants Elaine Dolan, Margaret Dewhirst, Margaret Kilgallon, Patricia Hough, Marlene Durbin and Kathleen Fogarty; and her train bearers Anthony Scott, Malcolm Durrance, James McLoughlin and Ian Underwood.
They were followed by the Guild of St Agnes, headed by their banner from which flowed streamers carried by the girls.
Next came 1953 May Queen, Mary O’Connor. Her dress was of white net over taffeta with a white satin train and a stand-up collar. Her headdress was of orange blossom and diamanté, and it held in place her full-length white veil. Her train bearers were Michael Kerfoot, Tony Mullins, John Farrar and Michael North. Her attendants were Anne Colleran, Christine Ellis, Sheila Mann, Bridget Harkin, Maureen Scott, Mary Hemingway, Maria Mullins and Josephine McGuire. The cushion bearer was Pauline Meredith.
The May Queen and her retinue were followed by the Children of Mary, who carried their own banner and bore the statue of Our Lady.
The procession finished at the school yard, where an altar had been erected. This is where Mary O’Connor performed her official May Queen duty, the ceremony of the crowning of the statue of the Blessed Virgin, with Parish Priest, the Rev. Father Lawrence Gallon, handing her the crown. After the crowning, Rev. Father P. Creed preached a sermon about The Queenship of Our Lady.
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