This is a draft entry on Mary Frances Applebey for the Dictionary of National Biography,
written by Nick Hervey and reproduced with his permission (23 December 2015).
Applebey, Mary Frances, (1916-2012), Civil Servant and Mental Health Campaigner, was
born 14th July 1916 in Richmond, Surrey, the eldest child of Malcolm Percival Applebey,
chemistry tutor at St John's, Oxford and research manager at ICI, and his wife, Lettice (Susie)
Susannah Charlotte, née Niemeyer, daughter of a German emigré merchant from Hanover.
Educated at Oxford High School, she effortlessly gained an exhibition to St Anne's College,
Oxford, in 1935, to read Modern Languages. It was there she met Ad (Edith Agnes) Leathart,
her life-long companion, until the latter's death in 2004. Applebey was fluent in German and
French, and after graduating in 1938 she worked at the War Office. At the end of the war she
spent a year Berlin with the Allied Control Commission, which was responsible for restoring
order in the Allied Occupation Zone. The destruction, starvation and chaos she witnessed
there had a profound effect on her, as thousands of displaced persons milled through the
desolation. British and Irish church leaders decided to help these refugees, and set up an
organisation called Christian Reconstruction in Europe, which eventually became Christian
Aid, on whose board Mary served for many years from the late 1970s.
On her return to England Applebey was promoted to Principal in the German section of the
Foreign Office. In 1951 she was made an OBE and left the Civil Service to take up an
appointment as general secretary of the National Association for Mental Health. NAMH was
formed by an amalgamation of Central Association for Mental Welfare, the National Council
for Mental Hygiene, and the Child Guidance Council. Mary had experienced the reality of
mental health problems through the illness of her mother, and always had a strong empathy
for mental health service users. Her crusade over the next 25 years was to seek the
transformation of services available to those suffering with mental illness. In this she was
closely assisted by Lord Feversham, Chair of the Government Commission which
recommended the creation of NAMH, and also by her uncle, Otto Ernst Niemeyer, who had
been a very senior member of the Treasury, involved in European reconstruction after WW1.
Mary was an intelligent, capable woman who felt at ease in the corridors of power. An
elegant presence, noted for a great sense of humour, she rarely raised her voice to get her
views across, and created a feeling of containment around her. As General Secretary she was
the beating heart of NAMH and the conduit through which it negotiated with Central
Government, the judiciary, and NHS. From relatively insignificant beginnings, she developed
a hugely influential organisation, which regularly filled gaps in the provision of statutory
services and provided a spur to Government. NAMH provided the only training available for
psychiatric social workers, mental welfare officers, and teachers of those with learning
difficulties, creating new qualifications for them. It pioneered the development of hostels at a
time when most patients lived in the old Victorian asylums, and also helped establish the first
day care facilities.
Drawing on the NAMH’s origins in the mental health hygiene movement, Applebey had a
clear vision that it should address wider issues of public education, anti-stigma work and
mental health promotion, and linking it to international initiatives on mental health. She was
closely involved in early contacts with the BBC to develop educational programmes on
mental health, and helped set up the Mental Health Film Council to serve as a focus of advice
to the industry.
Applebey was fearless in advocating for those with mental health problems, and it is clear
government ministries took her views seriously. She collated responses to numerous Select
Committees, and was always willing to challenge unreasonable timescales or point out
inconsistencies in Government policy. In 1965 she highlighted problems with interpretation
of s.57 of the 1955 Education Act, which caused lengthy delays for children with learning
disabilities in accessing training centre provision. She was unwilling to accept a bland
Government handoff, suggesting that the Ministry of Health and Department of Education
and Science were taking an unduly optimistic view of the situation, which she would persist
in bringing to their attention.
In the early 1970s Mary had a fierce battle with the Church of Scientology, which has always
demonised psychiatric treatment, and sought to destroy NAMH by flooding it with new
members. She eventually won a high court case that proved seminal for the law relating to
charities.
Mary’s commitment to new initiatives in mental health led her to visit mental hospitals
throughout the UK, occasionally spending some days as a ward resident to enrich her
understanding of the patients' experience. On the Association's 25th anniversary in 1971,
NAMH launched the "Mind" campaign, which included a significant public education and
fundraising campaign, and the organisation subsequently changed its name to MIND.
In 1975 Applebey was awarded a CBE for public service, particularly to mental health, and
retired the following year. Shortly afterwards she was commissioned to write a volume for a
series of teach yourself books. Understanding Mental Illness (1976) is an excellent basic
introduction to the subject, addressing public fears about mental illness, elaborating different
diagnoses and treatments, and explaining the roles played by different professionals. The
book is remarkably jargon free, thanks to Ad, who listened to large chunks being read aloud,
and despite some dated language, is full of practical advice, much of which is relevant today.
Applebey had a strong sense of civic duty and was involved in many public offices. She
worked as an Inner London Magistrate for many years, often acting as chairman of the
Lambeth Juvenile Bench. She was also served as a member of the Mental Health Review
Tribunal and as a Governor of the Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Joint Hospitals. She took
part in numerous committees for the Health Service, and sat on immigration appeal tribunals.
But she probably took most delight in chairing selection committees for the civil service. In
retirement Mary often spent time at a family home in St Austell, Cornwall, where she and Ad
gathered round them younger generations of the family. She was a keen traveller, often
visiting Germany where she had many close relations. Among other interests she enjoyed
choral singing, painting and tapestry work, and was an enthusiast for the work and
philosophy of Samuel Johnson.
Latterly, Mary was increasingly involved in the activities of Christ Church, Chelsea, London,
including its work for the homeless, still making sandwiches and tea in the night shelter aged
94. True to a lifelong commitment to education, she was also chair of Christ Church
Women’s Fellowship, which provided refreshments and an interesting lecture. She was
survived by two nieces and a nephew.
Sources M. Applebey, Understanding Mental Illness (1976)  The Times (30 January 2013)  The
Guardian ( 23 March 2013)  Wellcome MS/7913/7 Draft chapter Applebey prepared for an
unpublished book, The Expanding Field of Mental Health in England and Wales, 50 Years of Progress,
1918-68  private information from family members (2015)  N. Crossley, Transforming the mental
health field: the early history of the National Association for Mental Health, Sociology of Health &
Illness, 20 (1998)  b. cert.  m.cert.  d. cert.
Archives  National Archives, LAB96/158, Evidence given by NAMH to the Robens Select Committee
on Safety and Health at Work (1970-72),  National Archives, HO 307/72, Evidence given by NAMH to
the Royal Commission on the Penal System (1963-5)  National Archives, HO291/819, Evidence given
by NAMH to the Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders  National Archives, HO245/477,
Evidence given by NAMH to the Annan Committee on the Future of Broadcasting (1974-77)  National
Archives, ED50/970, File of Correspondence between NAMH and Department of Education (196469).
Likenesses
Wealth at death £1,435,840 : probate, 5 March 2013, District Probate Registry, Winchester