Emmeline (Goulden) Pankhurst (1858 - 1928)

Born 15 Jul 1858 in Chorlton, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Wife of Richard Marsden Pankhurst LLB — married 18 Dec 1879 in St Luke, Weaste, Lancashire, England

Descendants

Died 14 Jun 1928 at age 69 in Hampstead, London, England, United Kingdom

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Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote.

Biography

Emmeline Pankhurst, daughter of Robert Goulden and Sophia Jane Craine was born on the 15th of July 1858 at Chorlton in Lancashire, now known as Moss Side in Manchester.^[1] Her family had a tradition of radical politics, and she stepped into that mould becoming a passionate campaigner for women's right to vote.

On the 18th of December 1878, Emmeline married Richard Marsden Pankhurst,^[2] leading barrister, who at the time was 24 years older than her. Richard Pankhurst was a supporter of the women's suffrage movement. Together they had five children. His death in 1898 was a great shock to Emily.

Emmeline (Goulden) Pankhurst is Notable.

Previously on the 1st of January 1889, Emmeline, with the help of her husband, had founded the Women's Franchise League,^[3] which fought to allow married women to vote in local elections. Fourteen years later in October 1903, she helped found the more militant Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) .

Women's Suffrage Badge

This was an organisation that gained much notoriety for its activities and whose members were the first to be christened 'suffragettes'.^[4] She led a passionate group of women who often clashed with police and with the public. They disrupted public meetings, broke shop windows, set post boxes and buildings on fire and staged noisy protests.

On the 18th and 23rd of November 1910, during demonstrations outside the Houses of Parliament, there was violence and arrests. The police were accused of behaving with unnecessary brutality, and the 18th became known as Black Friday.^[5]

Emmeline (Goulden) Pankhurst was a part of the Suffragette Movement.

Like many suffragettes, Emmeline was arrested on numerous occasions over the next few years and went on hunger strike herself, resulting in violent force-feeding.^[6] In 1913, the campaign stepped up and Emmeline was imprisoned for three years for her part in planning protests,^[7] defending the militant tactics on the grounds that:

The condition of our sex is so deplorable that it is our duty to break the law in order to call attention to the reasons why we do.

In 1913, in response to the wave of hunger strikes, the government passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913, which became known as the 'Cat and Mouse' Act. Hunger striking prisoners were released until they grew strong again, and then re-arrested.^[8]

This period of militancy was ended abruptly on the outbreak of war in 1914, when Emmeline turned her energies to supporting the war effort.

What is the use of fighting for a vote if we have not got a country to vote in?

In February 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave voting rights to women over 30 in local general elections.^[9]

After the First World War Emmeline spent several years in the USA and Canada lecturing for the National Council for Combating Venereal Disease. When Emmeline returned to Britain in 1925 she joined the Conservative Party and was adopted as one of their candidates in the East End of London.

Emmeline died on the 14th of June 1928,^[10] a few weeks after the Representation of the People Act (1928) establishing voting equality for men and women was passed. She was buried at Brompton Cemetery in London, one of the country’s oldest garden cemeteries.^[11]

Statue of Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline was commemorated two years later with a statue in London's Victoria Tower Gardens.

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales, Birth Registration Index 1837-1920", index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/26BJ-C8P : accessed 01 May 2014), Emiline Goulden, 1858.
2. ↑ "England, Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, Parish Registers, 1603-1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FMRT-YTT : accessed 01 May 2014), Richard Marsden Parkhurst and Emmeline Goulden, 18 Dec 1879, Marriage; citing Eccles, Weaste, Lancashire, England, Archives Central Library, Manchester; FHL microfilm 2356043.
3. ↑ Emmeline Pankhurst, My Own Story (N.Y.: Hearst International Library, 1914, Kraus Reprints, 1971), pp. 4-9, 270-283.
4. ↑ 20th Century London. Women's Social and Political Union (W.S.P.U.). accessed May 1, 2014).
5. ↑ The Times newspaper (on line). 19 Nov 1910, page 10. Times link accessed 1 May 2014
6. ↑ Force Feeding Suffragettes Explaination of the process of force feeding.
7. ↑ Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 04 May 2014), April 1913, trial of PANKHURST, Emmeline (53) (t19130401-67).
8. ↑ Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913. 1913 Cat and Mouse Act. Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/PU/1/1913/3&4G5c4.
9. ↑ Representation of the People Act 1918. Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/PU/1/1918/7&8G5c64.
10. ↑ Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 [database on-line]. Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England. Emmeline Pankhurst; Death: 14 Jun 1928; Probate: 25 Jul 1928.
11. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images  : accessed 17 October 2021), memorial page for Emmeline Goulden Pankhurst (15 Jul 1858–14 Jun 1928), Find A Grave: Memorial #1927, citing Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Greater London, England ; Maintained by Find a Grave . Emmeline Pankhurst memorial

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q211519, en:Wikipedia
• The Campaign for Women's Suffrage
• Women's Social and Political Union
• BBC History - Emmeline Pankhurst
• General History of Women's Suffrage in Britain
• English Suffragettes
• Transcript of Emmeline Pankhurst's Questioning by the Board of Special Inquiry at Ellis Island https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18503946