Emmeline Pankhurst

14 July 1858 - 14 June 1928. One of the leading figures in the suffrage movement. She established the Woman Franchise League in 1889 and the more radical Women's Social and Political Union in 1903. Mother of Sylvia Pankhurst.

Youth

Emmeline was born 14 July 1858 in Manchester as the first of ten children of Robert Goulden and Sophia Crane. Her father had radical political views and was part of the movement against slavery. Robert Goulden was also a supporter of John Stuart Mill and his campaign for equal votes for men and women. Her mother was a feminist, who took her daughter to suffrage meetings when she was in her early teens. In 1868, Emmeline and her younger sister were part of a feminist demonstration at the General Election. Emmeline was sent to a school in Paris in 1873, where her education was further encouraged with subjects such as science and bookkeeping. At the age of nineteen, she came back to Manchester.

Marriage

In 1879, she married Richard Pankhurst, a twenty-four year older lawyer and supporter of the women's suffrage movement. He had been responsible for the Municipal Franchise Act of 1869 that allowed unmarried women householders to vote in local elections. Following with the Married Women's Property Acts in 1870 and 1882, he made it possible for women to keep their property and income. They had four children:

• 1880 Christabel
• 1882 Sylvia
• 1884 Frank
• 1885 Adela

Women's Franchise League

The Pankhursts moved to London in 1886, where their home became a meeting point for socialists and suffragists; their children were directly involved in political matters. Both, Emmeline and Robert were members of the Fabian society. 1889, Emmeline founded the Women's Franchise League, whose aim was to keep up the women's right to vote in local elections.

Emmeline and Richard returned to Manchester in 1893 to work for the new Independent Labour Party (ILP). Visits to the Chorlton Workhouse made it clear to Emmeline that the situation of the women could only be changed by the equal right to vote; she arranged meetings, which were later declared illegal.

Richard's death in 1898 was a severe drawback: Emmeline had to sell their house, move to a cheaper accommodation and work as a registrar for births and deaths.

WSUP

In 1903, Emmeline, supported by her daughters, founded the WSPU - the Women's Social and Political Union. In 1905, when the media lost interest in the movement, the suffragettes came up with more militant methods to enforce their purpose; e.g. in June 1908, suffragettes threw stones through the government building windows and twenty-seven women were arrested. WSUP's methods became even more drastic and in 1913, Emily Davison, a WSUP member, was killed when she attempted to grab the king's horse at the annual Derby. Emmeline was arrested several times for her activities. She went on hunger strike, which ended in force-feeding. In 1913, the government released The Prisoners Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Act an act - known as Cat and Mouse Act - that granted every hunger striking person release until they were strong enough to be rearrested.

WSUP activities were ended by the outbreak of the First World War. On August 10, all imprisoned suffragettes were released in return for the end of their militant activities and their effort in the war. 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave women over 30 the right to vote.

Emmeline went to the USA and Canada. When she returned in 1925, she joined the Conservative Party, which brought her into trouble with her daughter Sylvia. Emmeline, together with two other women, started to run an unsuccessful tea shop at the French Riviera, and they returned to England in early 1926.

June 14 1928, Emmeline died in a nursery home shortly after women were granted equal vote with men (at the age of 21).

Sources

• Maurer, Michael. Kleine Geschichte Englands. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007.
• BBC History: Emmeline Pankhurst. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/pankhurst_emmeline.shtml [04.01.2012]
• Spartakus Educational: Emmeline Pankhurst. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WpankhurstE.htm [04.01.2012]