The modern fight for women’s rights and equality is more visible than ever. Global media highlight the issue, international leaders discuss it, and activists establish organizations and fund large-scale projects to protect the rights of every woman around the world. Today, women have the right to vote, can file for divorce, and hold senior leadership positions. However, these important changes were preceded by a difficult path paved by women themselves. Next on leedska.
Strong-willed, determined, and justice-driven young women passionately fought for social and political equality. The suffragettes in Britain were the first to openly fight for women’s right to vote. They actively organized street protests, petitioned political leaders, went on hunger strikes, and raised funds to advance women’s rights. However, some activists went as far as staging arson attacks and explosions in city streets. Thanks to such struggles, over a hundred years ago, women first gained the right to vote. For suffragettes and other advocates for women’s rights, this was a monumental step forward in the ongoing fight for equal rights and opportunities. Their efforts inspired other women across the country to join the movement, striving to win voting rights for women worldwide. In doing so, they laid the groundwork for freedoms that we often take for granted today.
The Beginning of the British Suffragette Movement
To draw attention to the issue of gender equality in society, women had to embark on a long and persistent struggle. Early suffrage campaigners primarily organized peaceful protests, demonstrations, petitions, and formal letters to highlight pressing concerns affecting women. In 1906, these militant activists began to be known as suffragettes, marking the beginning of modern feminism. Many of them were members of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and were committed to adhering to the law to show their determination and seriousness.
Over time, participants in other organizations, including the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), began to adopt more aggressive campaigns for women’s voting rights. For example, some groups, including the Women’s Social and Political Union, concluded that peaceful street demonstrations were insufficient. They began to take more radical action, such as throwing stones at windows or chaining themselves to fences and railings. Women across Britain carried out nighttime attacks on MPs’ homes, churches, railway stations, and post offices. They were armed with weapons, bombs, and the belief that the only way to win voting rights for women was to use the violent methods traditionally employed by men.
Early Victories of the Suffragette Movement
In 1918, women over 30 who owned property worth more than five pounds sterling were granted the right to vote. This was largely thanks to the efforts of determined women who worked tirelessly to maintain Britain’s social and economic infrastructure during World War I. During the war, suffragettes put down their banners, ceased protests, and took on roles on the other side of the front line.
They actively worked in hospitals, raised funds for the army, and served as journalists and photographers, documenting the tragedies of war. These contributions helped reconcile suffragettes with political figures of the time and granted them a voice. In 1928, all women aged 21 and over finally gained the right to vote in British parliamentary elections, removing any remaining restrictions.
The Suffragette Movement and Electoral Reform in Leeds
The suffragette movement drew women from various social backgrounds and regions, including activists from Leeds. In this city, the fight for women’s voting rights began among working-class women protesting against the oppression they faced. In Leeds, the suffrage campaign evolved against the backdrop of industrialization, where women endured harsh working conditions. Activists fought tirelessly to improve working conditions and increase opportunities for women not only in factories but also in schools and hospitals.
The most notable organizations campaigning for voting rights in the city included the Leeds Suffrage Society, part of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. In addition, the Leeds branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) was highly active. While many organizations were established in the city to advocate for voting rights, most focused on specific groups, such as workers in particular industries or members of religious organizations or political parties. However, they all shared a common goal—to secure voting rights for women.
Notable Suffragettes of Leeds
The most prominent suffragettes from Leeds were Leonora Cohen, Mary Gawthorpe, and Alice Cliff Scatcherd. These women were among the most active proponents of the suffrage movement, dedicating their lives to advancing women’s rights and opportunities.
Leonora Cohen was a passionate and militant activist born in Leeds on June 15, 1873. Her life experiences motivated her to fight for women’s rights. As a child, Leonora witnessed the struggles of her widowed mother, a seamstress raising three children alone, limited in her rights like most British women of the late 19th century. Leonora also experienced workplace discrimination firsthand while working as a milliner, fueling her determination to join the Leeds suffrage campaign to improve conditions for women.
In 1911, she famously threw a stone through the window of a government building, leading to her arrest and imprisonment. Two years later, she was jailed again after throwing an iron bar into a case containing the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London in front of astonished schoolchildren. Leonora Cohen lived to be 105 years old, continuing to champion women’s rights until her death in 1978.
Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe, a schoolteacher from Leeds, was another renowned suffragette. A fiery orator, she helped establish the Leeds branch of the WSPU. Mary, who came from a working-class background, left her teaching job to work for the WSPU, campaigning and recruiting other women. Her speeches were bold and often confrontational, occasionally provoking male opposition. During one rally, a disgruntled man threw a cabbage at her; Mary caught it and defiantly returned the “gift.”
Mary Gawthorpe was frequently arrested for “threatening and abusive language,” provocations, and disturbing public order. On one occasion, she spent two months in solitary confinement. She was also a co-editor of the radical periodical The Freewoman: A Weekly Feminist Review, which tackled topics such as women’s labor, domestic routines, motherhood, and the suffrage movement. Mary passed away in New York in 1973 at the age of 92, where she had been active in suffrage and trade union movements since 1916.
Alice Cliff Scatcherd was born into a wealthy family and became famous for refusing to wear a wedding ring and omitting the word “obey” from her marriage vows. She shocked “polite” society by traveling across Europe with her husband without a ring.
Alice and her husband Oliver lived at Morley Hall in Leeds, where they were deeply involved in politics. In 1872, Alice joined the Leeds Women’s Suffrage Society and became an active campaigner for women’s rights in Yorkshire and Manchester.
Alice was a popular speaker at demonstrations in the early 1880s. She also actively wrote letters and petitions to the Liberal Society, urging them to grant women the right to vote.
The extraordinary stories of these ordinary women from Leeds, along with countless other British suffragettes, are true examples of determination and resilience. These women broke societal norms and refused to live by established rules. Their shared refusal to accept gender limitations and their unwavering commitment to their goals, despite challenges, societal pressure, and even imprisonment, united them.
These women fought long and hard to lay the foundation for the opportunities and freedoms we enjoy today.