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THE PANKHURSTS  -    Women’s Suffragettes.

__  Introduction  __

Emmeline Pankhurst was Britain’s leading protestor for Women’s rights. She encouraged the use of violence, public demonstrations and hunger strikes in the ongoing campaign for women’s votes and was frequently imprisoned.

** EMMELINE PANKHURST  ** **Biography:** **Name: ** Emmeline Pankhurst ** Lived:  **  14 July 1858 – 14 June 1928 **Born: ** Manchester, England **Died: ** London **Nationality: ** British **Known for: ** Being a major social reformer and a campaigner for women’s suffrage. __ Early Lif   e __

 Emmeline Pankhurst was born to a middle class family, her father was a radical political campaigner against slavery and the corn laws. Her mother was a feminist who campaigned for women’s suffrage, she often took Emmeline to suffrage meetings when Emmeline was a teenager. Emmeline finished her education in Paris, like many of the well – off young women of her day. __ Marriage & Famil y __

In 1878 Emmeline returned to England and met Richard Marsden Pankhurst, a man who shared her belief that women should have equal rights as men. One year later they married. Emmeline and Richard had five children, including their three daughters Christabel, Sylvia and Adela. These girls would become active in the women’s suffrage movement with their mother. In 1889 Richard died of a perforated ulcer in his stomach. The same year Emmeline founded the Women’s Franchise League.

However, His daughters and wife remained active in politics and in 1901 Christabel met Eva Gore-Booth who was trying to persuade working class women in Manchester to join the Christabel was very impressed with their arguments and decided to join the campaign. Christabel's sister Sylvia, and her mother Emmeline, also became involved in the suffrage movement. But soon, the Pankhursts became frustrated by the NUWSS lack of success and in 1903 the three women formed their own political party, the ** Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).** As well as her involvement in the WSPU, Christabel was also studying for a law degree at Owens College, Manchester.
 * National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies** (NUWSS).

__The Protesting Begin __ __s__

In 1895 Emmeline became a Poor Law Guardian. This involved regular visits to the local workhouse, where Emmeline felt extreme sympathy for the women working there. She resolved that the only way to put an end to this social problem was women’s’ suffrage. From this point on, she was driven by the fight for women to have the same political status as men, and to be entitled to vote.

The **suffragettes**, as they were called, had the motto ‘Deeds, not words’. At first, the protests were non – violent and consisted mainly of disrupting political meetings. This may seem soft to you, but back then, a group of well off women protesting like this was unheard of.  __More publicity for the suffrage__

In October 1905 the suffrage movement started to attract more publicity when two of its members, Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney, were jailed. They were removed from an election meeting after demanding a statement about votes for women, and were charged with assault because a policeman claimed they had spat at him. When they refused to pay the fine, they were sent to prison. This shocked the public and drew plenty of attention to the cause.

__Emmeline's Contribution__ Emmeline Pankhurst was a talented speaker who inspired many others to follow her. She made many speeches to people to rally them and could motivate a crowd of people amazingly.  Between 1908 and 1909, Emmeline was imprisoned THREE times. On 18 November 1910, she and a group of WSPU members tried to gain admission to the house of commons, to interview the Prime Minister, and protest against them government dropping the conciliation bill, a bill which would have given women the vote. They were stopped and a riot developed as hundreds of women attempted to break police lines. More than 100 women were arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. Many of the women accused police of brutality and the charges were dropped. This event became known as Black Friday.