Grace Alderman (1885 1968) was a British

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

, chairwoman of the

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and involved in militant events in London and Preston, and was imprisoned for protesting for women's suffrage.

Background

Grace Muriel Alderman was born in 1885. Alderman's working life began as a machinist, but later she married a solicitor but retained her own name.

Role in suffrage movement

Alderman became the chairwoman of

WSPU 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 ...

, which initially met at 28,Winkley Square, Avenham, the home of

Edith Rigby Edith Rigby ( Rayner) (18 October 1872 – 23 July 1950) was an English suffragette who used arson as a way to further the cause of women’s suffrage. She founded a night school in Preston called St Peter's School, aimed at educating women an ...

. Alderman recognised the challenge for women in her era to take up activism, when responsible for homes and families. She was with a delegation which attended the "Women's Parliament" in

Caxton Hall Caxton Hall is a building on the corner of Caxton Street and Palmer Street, in Westminster, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building primarily noted for its historical associations. It hosted many mainstream and fringe political and art ...

. Alderman was one of the crowd, including three other Preston women,

Beth Hesmondhalgh Elizabeth Ellen Hesmondhalgh (active 1907–1914) began working around 1885 as a cotton spinner in Preston, and became a British suffragette, imprisoned twice for militant protesting on behalf of women's franchise, and awarded the Women's Social ...

, and Rose Towler, who hid in a furniture van as the women's movement charged at the St Stephen's Entrance to Westminster, and she was sentenced to a month in Holloway Prison. In 1909, Alderman and

Rosamund Massy Rosamund Massy (1870–1947) was an English suffragette. According to Sir William Byrne, she was a fierce woman. She was one of three women who organised the Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial. Biography Rosamund Massy was born in 1870, ...

and Margaret Hewitt held meetings across the city of Preston prior to Winston Churchill's event on 3 December. They spoke up against Churchill's stance on women's rights. On the evening of the event, police activity was intense including special branch from London, trying to ensure that women were going to be excluded, when Alderman and Edith Rigby, Beth Hesmondhalgh, and Catherine Worthington arrived at the door and were refused entry, but would not leave so were again taken away by the police. They were taken to court and went to prison for seven days except for Rigby, as her father, annoyingly, paid the fine claiming that she was just in bad company of "hired women". Edith's brother Arthur was reported to have pointed at another suffragette, Margaret Hewitt, saying that it was all due to "that painted jezebel".

Later life

Alderman wrote about the experiences of Preston suffragettes to Mr R. Fowler of Fulwood in 1964, shortly before she died in 1968 in Essex.

References

External links

The National Women's Social and Political Union Annual Reports 1908-1912

Agnes Towler

Elizabeth Ellen Hesmondhalgh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alderman, Grace English suffragettes Women's Social and Political Union 1885 births 1968 deaths Politicians from Preston, Lancashire