Ellen Chapman was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

suffragist and local politician, and the first woman councillor for

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

Career

Ellen Chapman was the first woman to run for election to Worthing Borough Council, and in 1910 became the first woman councillor, and one of the first woman councillors in England. In 1920, Chapman became Worthing's first female mayor, and the first female mayor anywhere in Sussex. She was a great benefactor of the poor in Worthing and lived in Ardsheal Road, Broadwater. Chapman had been selected to be mayor in 1914 but the choice was vetoed at the last minute because – to quote a member of the all-male mayoral selection committee – “it would be inadvisable to have a woman mayor while the country is in a state of war”. Chapman had also been a poor law guardian at the East Preston

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

. She was also a member of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and founder and president of the Worthing Women's Franchise Society, a branch of the NUWSS, in 1913. She was also a member of the

Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association The Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association (CUWFA) was a British women's suffrage organisation open to members of the Conservative and Unionist Party. Formed in 1908 by members of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, C ...

and the Catholic Women's Suffrage Society. Ellen Chapman was largely responsible for the Worthing Women's Franchise Society taking a leading role in the Sussex-wide campaign for ‘Votes for Women’. Chapman also led several deputations to meet Government ministers and met members of the local establishment including the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and ...

and the fledgling local Labour Party to lobby and persuade people of the merits of women's suffrage and non-violence. Chapman was elected to West Sussex County Council in 1919 and was the first woman to do so, with Evelyn Gladys Cecil from Bognor Regis. Chapman was elected unopposed to the Broadwater ward.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Ellen (politician) English suffragists Women councillors in England Members of West Sussex County Council 20th-century British women politicians 20th-century English politicians 20th-century English women politicians Year of birth missing Year of death missing People from Broadwater, West Sussex