Who Was Emmeline Pankhurst?

Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) was a leading light in the Suffragette movement which was a group formed to actively campaign for women to have the vote in Britain. In 1903 she formed the Women's Social and Political Union.
She then encouraged her members to demonstrate very publicly from 1906 onwards, which became known as the 'militant suffragette campaign'.
Tactics included hunger strikes and marches.
Interestingly, the suffragette movement which was largely made up of women from the middle classes did not believe that all women should have the vote. They felt instead that only middle class, educated and preferably married women, should be afforded this right. But they did not believe that working class women should have the vote.
Women over 30 were granted the vote in 1918, after the first World War with all women over 21 having this right from 1928.

Add Comment

Report