* Shirley Beck

..... FIRST woman Commander in the Metropolitan Police, a rank she held from 1966 to 1974. The rank is peculiar to the Metropolitan and City of London Police and equates roughly to that of an Assistant Chief Constable in the Provincial Forces. She joined the force in 1941 and may also possibly be the FIRST woman to have been awarded the Queens Police Medal

* Shirley Anita Chisholm

 neé St Hill

 born 1924

..... FIRST African-American woman elected to Congress in 1968  and served seven terms to 1982 and FIRST black American to run for president when she campaigned to win the Democratic party nomination in 1972.  Although she lost the bid she established another first for black America and a first for the women of America

* Shirley Dolding

..... one of the FIRST women skip drivers in the UK (P/L)

* Shirley Barbara De La Huntly

 neé Strickland

 born 1925

..... Australian who was the FIRST woman athlete to win for a second time at the Olympics when she retained her hurdles crown in 1956 at Melbourne

* Shirley Jones

..... when she starred in the revival of 42nd Street on Broadway in America with her son Patrick, it was the FIRST time that a mother and son had starred in any Broadway musical. She was also the FIRST and only actor to be signed to a personal contract by Rodgers & Hammerstein

 * Shirley Mattin

..... from Hertfordshire, England. In October 2003 she became the FIRST hip replacement patient in Europe to leave hospital in little more than a day due to a new surgery technique called "2-Incision". The procedure has been used widely in America since 2001 and involves standard implants being inserted through two small cuts

* Shirley Muldowney

born 1940

..... FIRST woman licensed to drive a Top Fuel dragster. She was the recipient of more individual honours than any other drag racer and was inducted into the Motor Sports Hall of Fame. She was the subject of hundreds of magazine and newspaper stories and the feature film Heart Like A Wheel told the story of her life

* Shirley Pollard

..... FIRST woman President at Lancaster Law Society

* Shirley Preston

..... in April 1967 she was London's FIRST female taxi cab driver

* Shirley Rowe

..... FIRST woman in the world to become pregnant with twins after taking Viagra herself. She was the FIRST woman in Britain to have a Viagra baby and the FIRST in the world to have twins using the drug ( see Rene Danford)

* Shirley Ryder

..... FIRST female president of the National Association of Master Bakers - May 2006 - and at the age of 39 years, the youngest ever president

* Shirley Temple

born April 23rd 1928

..... star of the FIRST interracial dance team when she danced with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the legendary black tap dancer, in the film " The Little Colonel"  and again in "The Littlest Rebel" . She also starred in two more films with him and was the FIRST person to earn a £1m by the age of ten

* Shirley Vivien Teresa Williams - Baroness Williams of Crosby

born 1930

neé Brittain

..... English politician who was the FIRST woman chairman of the Labour Club in 1948 and in 1974 became first woman Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection. In 1981 she was the FIRST woman elected SDP MP