Mrs Adelaide Eliza Knight

Other sources: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4769024
https://eastendwomensmuseum.org/blog/adelaide-knight-leader-of-the-first-east-london-suffragettes
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866?1928 (1999)

Family information: Father was a hairdresser and alcoholic. He committed suicide. In 1894 Adelaide married a black seaman, Donald Adolphus Brown.

Additional Information: Adelaide joined the WSPU in 1906 and was a member and secretary of the Canning Town branch of the WSPU. She was arrested with others taking a deputation to Herbert Asquith's house in Cavendish Square, and was charged with disturbing the peace. She was sent to Holloway Prison for six weeks, writing to her husband that 'equal taxation demands equal representation, and I am determined to continue the fight for progress'. Her husband Adolphus, a black seaman, was fully supportive and looked after their children while she was in prison. Adelaide was a representative of many working women in her area of London and she grew suspicious of the lack of democracy within the WSPU and its motives in using working women as and when it suited their ends. Consequently, she resigned her position in 1907 and focused on highlighting working class women's issues instead. However, she was invited by her friend and suffragist Dora Montefiore to speak to French suffragists in 1908, and she acted as secretary to the Canning Town branch of the Adult Suffrage Society (which worked for votes for women and votes for many working men, who didn't have the vote either). Adelaide's husband was also an active social reformer (see Other Activities). It is also worth noting that Adelaide also had to contend with a physical disability ? she used crutches for most of her life.

Other Suffrage Activities: Adelaide and her husband, Donald Adolphus, were both passionate about changing the social ills of the poverty-stricken world in which they lived. Together, they joined the Social Democratic Federation (a left-wing, socialist-type group) and the Independent Labour Party (ILP). After her brief work for the WSPU, Adelaide served on the West Ham (London) Board of Guardians, and in 1920 became a foundation member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, with which her husband was also involved.