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The women of the Romantic down to the Edwardian era, although some what educated and, to an extent, able to work, had few rights or fair opportunities.

"Nature has given women so much power that the law has very wisely given them little" - Dr. Samuel L Johnson

Women of status, who had better education started questioning the legal inequality.

1792 - Mary Wollstonecraft published 'A Vindication of the Rights of Women'.

1867 - bills were put forward to enfranchise women.

1897 - Suffragist groups started picketing for women's votes through speeches and petitions.

For many years there was no change...until 1903 when the WSPU began their fight.

On the14th of July 1858, Emmeline Goulden was born to Robert Goulden and Sophia Crane.

Both her parents were activists. Her Father advocated against slavery and her mother was a strong feminist.

At 14 she went to her first suffrage meeting, and was inspired.

From 15 to 20 she attended Ecole Normande Superieure, a modern Parisian School for girls, which stood for equal education.

1879 - Goulden married Richard Pankhurst.

Richard was a strong activist for women's suffrage, home rule in Ireland and the abolition of the monarchy.

He drafted the Married Women's Property Act (1870 and 1882)

Their children, Christabel, Sylvia, Francis H, Adela and Henry F were a big part of their parents' campaigns and rallies.

1886 - the Matchgirl strike re-ignited Pankhurst's enthusiasm for suffrage.

1889 - the Pankhurst family founded the Women's Franchise League meant to secure women's vote in local elections. It failed.

1894 - Pankhurst became a Poor Law Guardian for the Independent Labour Party and saw the terrible conditions suffered in the workhouses.

1898 - Richard died of a perforated ulcer, so Emmeline was forced to become the Registrar of Births and Deaths in order to have an income. There she lived through the struggles of a working woman.

1903 - the Pankhurst women and others founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).

1905 - after Christabel and Annie Kenney were arrested by police for interrupting a Liberal Party meeting and alleged assault, they were sent to prison.

So began the militant actions of the WSPU. Arson, smashing windows, explosives, buttonholding and suicide were the preferred methods of getting noticed. They were dubbed the Suffragettes, after the Suffragists found their highly dangerous methods to be against all they stood for. The WSPU took it in their stride.

As more WSPU members were arrested, hunger strikes became a common occurrence. This lead to violent force feedings which were soon ended by worried politicians.

1913 - the Cat and Mouse Act enabled the prisons to set free the women who had fallen ill due to hunger strike, only to re arrest them once they recovered.

10 August 1914 - the Suffragettes were released from prison because they agreed to stop their militancy and help the war effort.

"For men must Fight and Women must work" - Emmeline Pankhurst

1917 - Pankhurst and Christabel formed The Women's Party which stood for vigorous war efforts to bring down Germany , and equality between the genders.

1918 - The Representation of the People Act was passed 385 to 55. The act gave women over 30 the right to vote. Historians suggest it was the hard work of women during WW1 that convinced politicians women were intelligent and strong enough to vote.

After living in Canada until 1926, Pankhurst joined the Conservative party looking for more traditional values in her older age.

1928 - Pankhurst died on the 14th of June (69 years and 11 months). This was just 3 weeks before the Representation of the People Act was altered to give women complete equal voting rights (starting at 21).

Through the militancy of the Suffragettes, women were able to gain equality and representation in England.

At what cost?

Some died on hunger strike, others, like Davison intentionally committed public suicide. Several felonies and crimes, not to mention assaults, were charged against each and every Suffragette. They were, unfortunately, "lawbreakers".

The Suffragettes, even though they never killed anyone, were in a sense terrorists. They blew up buildings and destroyed property, so why do we call them heroes?

Simply put, they gave women, 50% of the population, a voice. The Suffragettes made it possible for women to have equality in a global society that saw women as second hand citizens.

They opened the door for powerful female leaders, and for accomplished business women. They opened the door for equality and fair treatment. The first Human Right shared by all.

Emily Davison, at the Epsom Derby 4 June 1913, throwing herself in front of the King's horse (a martyr for Suffragettes)

Getting the Vote

Pankhurst always aimed to look good, part of her Parisian schooling that always stayed with her.

Getting it RIGHT?

War and Women

Lydia Becker - the speaker at Goulden's first suffrage meeting

'Deeds Not Words'

Bibliography

The statue of Pankhurst at the Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst memorial commemorates her life's work

Learning the Ropes

The 1918 Representation of the People Act - History Learning Site. 2015. The 1918 Representation of the People Act - History Learning Site. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-role-of-british-women-in-the-twentieth-century/the-1918-representation-of-the-people-act/. [Accessed 31 October 2015].

About.com Education, (2015). Emmeline Pankhurst. [online] Available at: http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/a/Pankhurst.htm. [Accessed 25 Oct. 2015].

Women's Suffrage (stock footage / archival footage) - YouTube. 2015. Women's Suffrage (stock footage / archival footage) - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: [Accessed 03 November 2015].

BBC - History - Emmeline Pankhurst. 2015. BBC - History - Emmeline Pankhurst. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/pankhurst_emmeline.shtml. [Accessed 25 October 2015].

The suffragettes : Emmeline Pankhurst (1858 - 1928) - YouTube. 2015. The suffragettes : Emmeline Pankhurst (1858 - 1928) - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: [Accessed 01 November 2015].

Emmeline Pankhurst. 2015. Emmeline Pankhurst. [ONLINE] Available at: http://spartacus-educational.com/WpankhurstE.htm. [Accessed 25 October 2015].

Emmeline Pankhurst - YouTube. 2015. Emmeline Pankhurst - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: [Accessed 01 November 2015].

Emmeline Pankhurst | biography - British suffragist | Britannica.com. 2015. Emmeline Pankhurst | biography - British suffragist | Britannica.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/biography/Emmeline-Pankhurst. [Accessed 25 October 2015].

Emmeline Pankhurst - History Learning Site. 2015. Emmeline Pankhurst - History Learning Site. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-role-of-british-women-in-the-twentieth-century/emmeline-pankhurst/. [Accessed 03 November 2015].

'Votes for Women'

Just Getting Started

Married Life

Emmeline Pankhurst

The Suffragette

By Ellen Edwards

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