Mrs Matilda Ashurst Biggs

Other sources: https://www.parliament.uk/1866
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866?1928 (2001); Claire Midgeley, Women Against Slavery: The British Campaigns 1780?1870 (1992); Kathryn Gleadle, The Early Feminists: Radical Unitarians and the Emergence of the Women's Rights Movement 1831?51 (1995)

Family information: Her father was a solicitor and a political and social campaigner. She married Joseph Biggs, also a social and political reform campaigner, circa 1840. They had three daughters, two of whom signed the 1866 petition, including Caroline Ashurst Biggs.

Additional Information: Matilda was active in a number of social causes and subscribed to the Enfranchisement of Women Committee (EWC) in 1866.

Other Suffrage Activities: In 1840, Matilda attended an anti-slavery convention in London and entertained visiting abolitionists from America. She also started a rescue mission for 'fallen women' or prostitutes in Leicester with her sister Emilie Venturi (who also signed the 1866 petition), and donated to the Society for the Promotion of Employment of Women in 1865.