Suffragettes in the Heart of England: The Fight for the Vote in Three Midland Towns

The campaign for women's suffrage is perhaps the best known aspect of women's political fight in the early part of the 20th century. Yet little is known of the local women who engaged in this struggle. Indeed, the assumption that only wealthy women were involved in the militant campaign has led, not only to a distortion of the WSPU membership, but it also negates the significant contribution made by working women. Previously, few investigations have been carried out into local organisations of the Women's Social and Political Union, and as a consequence our understanding of local women within the party has been limited. Focusing on this central omission this book, through the lives of ordinal women in Leicester, Nottingham and Northampton seeks to redress the balance and add to our understanding of who the suffragettes were. But more importantly this book is about these women who gave their lives to the cause and, through their personalities shaped the lives of thousands of women. The importance of this book is that now it is being recognised that history can not shut away the lives and experiences of thousands of women like these women and the extent to which local women were involved will always remained hidden. Thus the story of the women of Leicester, Nottingham, and Northampton are crucial to our understanding of our organisation.