A FORMER mayoress of Bury, Mrs Edna Cockayne, died on Monday (May 12) at the age of 92.

She was the wife of the late Alderman Ernest Cockayne. The couple were mayor and mayoress of the old Bury Town Council in 1969-70.

For the past three years, Mrs Cockayne had been living at her daughter Valerie's home in Wigton, Cumbria.

Originally hailing from Ashton-under-Lyne, Mrs Cockayne ran the former well-known Tommy Evans herbalist shop in Union Arcade, Bury.

The business had been bought from the original owner in 1949. However, it closed during town centre redevelopment in the early 1970s.

Shortly afterwards, the couple left their home in Manchester Road, Bury, to retire to the Lake District where Mr Cockayne died in 1990.

Mrs Cockayne leaves one daughter. The funeral service will take place at Carlisle Crematorium next Monday.

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