Access a variety of podcasts, film, articles and case studies of suffrage campaigners to support subject knowledge for both teachers and students, covering the history of women at the hustings from the 17th century right up to questions of citizenship and equality today. There are also a number of fully resourced history enquiries and citizenship activities in the Activities section.
Born: 1876
Died: 1948
Occupation: socialite, nurse and campaigner
Claims to fame: involvement in ‘Black Friday’, high social class and background, tendency towards militant activity
Her background
Sophia’s father was the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire in India and she was born a princess. British rule in India meant...
Born: 1865
Died: 1959
Occupation: artist and writer
Claims to fame: originated the idea of the 1911 census boycott
Early life
Laurence Housman was born in Bromsgrove, in a middle-class family. He was close to his sister, Clemence. In 1909, Laurence and Clemence helped to found the Suffrage Atelier (SA)....
Anna 1828–1914; Mary 1830–1914
Occupation: social campaigners
Claims to fame: formed the WLA in Bristol
In the north-east of England
Sisters Anna and Mary Priestman were born in Newcastle. Their family were Quakers and active in social reform, such as anti-slavery movements. As girls, they helped their mother by sewing...
Born: 1864
Died: 1954
Occupation: factory worker, mother, campaigner
Claims to fame: founded the first London Branch of the WSPU
Her background
Minnie Rogers was born into a poor family in Bow, East London. She worked in the hard conditions of a factory from a young age to support herself....
Born: 1833
Died: 1918
Occupation: teacher and reformer
Claims to fame: key campaigner, Married Women’s Property Act 1882
Her background
Elizabeth was born in Manchester. She left school aged 16 and worked as a governess, then set up a girls’ school. She became a passionate advocate for girls’ education. In...
The problem facing all the campaigns for women’s suffrage was that they couldn’t make the all-male members of Parliament give them the vote; they had to persuade them that it was the right thing to do.
1. Contemporary attitudes towards women
One fundamental difficulty that the campaigners had to overcome...
In this podcast, Professor Arthur Burns of Kings College London discusses politics and democracy in late 18th-century England.
The podcast starts by looking at what elections were about in late 18th-century England and how different this is from elections today - in particular, the focus then on representation and legislation at the...
In this podcast Dr Claire Eustance of Greenwich University discusses some of the men who were involved in the Suffrage movement, starting with the radical liberal MP John Stuart Mill.
The podcast looks at the many men who actively espoused the cause of women's suffrage, including the husbands and siblings of famous suffragists and suffragettes. It considers...
In this podcast Dr Claire Eustance of Greenwich Unversity looks at the Women's Freedom League, which was formed in 1907 by 77 members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). The Women's Freedom League had a wider feminist agenda that looked towards life beyond enfranchisement.
The podcast explores who the Women's Freedom League were and why they...
In July 2018, students at Hamilton Academy in Leicestershire interviewed Baroness Garden of Frognal, Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, on the issue of progress towards equality for women and women in politics.
The whole interview is shown below, as well as each individual question. The interview is used as...
