Mabel Talbot became the Shop workers union (NAUSAW&C's now USDAW) President in 1920, the first woman to hold the position in the Union's history.
A London dressmaker, she advocated the appointment of a woman organiser in her first conference speech in 1910. Three months later she organised a conference of 100 women which led to the formation of the London Women's Council.
She represented the Union at the TUC and at the Congress of Commercial Employees at the Hague and was elected to the Executive in 1914.
A tireless worker with a clear and lucid mind, she helped consolidate the position of women in the movement.