Lilian Hicks (1853–1924) was a British campaigner for the vote for agricultural labourers and later

Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom A movement to fight for women's right to vote in the United Kingdom finally succeeded through acts of Parliament in 1918 and 1928. It became a national movement in the Victorian era. Women were not explicitly banned from voting in Great Britai ...

. Hicks took an active role in several organisations and was arrested on Black Friday in 1910.

Life

Hicks was born in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

in 1853. She and her husband, Charles Hicks, lived at

Great Holland The Ship Inn in Great Holland Great Holland is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district, in the county of Essex, England. It is to the north-east of Holland-on-Sea, and west of Frinton-o ...

Hall where her daughter

Amy Amy is a female given name, sometimes short for Amanda, Amelia, Amélie, or Amita. In French, the name is spelled ''"Aimée"''. People A–E * Amy Acker (born 1976), American actress * Amy Vera Ackman, also known as Mother Giovanni (1886– ...

was born. She campaigned to support agricultural labourers who in the 19th century were denied the vote. The campaign had success when the

Representation of the People Act 1884 In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 3, also known informally as the Third Reform Act) and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which ...

became law giving the vote to male agricultural labourers. irrespective of gender because they had no property. Hicks went on to campaign for women's suffrage via a number of organisations as the women's cause was splintered by different allegiances. Many would not get involved in criminal acts or they disagreed with the dictatorial approach of

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 ...

's leadership. Hicks had been associated with the suffrage cause since Amy was a young girl. By 1902 she and her daughter were members by of the Central Society for Women's Suffrage and they were joining celebrations of women's civil disobedience in pursuit of the suffrage cause. She and her daughter joined the

in 1906, but by 1907 they were both in the

Women's Freedom League The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigned for women's suffrage and sexual equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access ...

which had split from the suffragettes (the Women's Social and Political Union) and Amy was serving as a secretary for the league. Amy was imprisoned for three weeks in 1907 for

obstruction Obstruction may refer to: Places * Obstruction Island, in Washington state * Obstruction Islands, east of New Guinea Medicine * Obstructive jaundice * Obstructive sleep apnea * Airway obstruction, a respiratory problem ** Recurrent airway o ...

that year. In about 1909 the Women's Freedom League published a postcard featuring a photo of Hicks taken by Lena Connell. She and her mother were arrested on Black Friday on 18 November 1910. Black Friday was a

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 ...

demonstration in London on 18 November 1910, in which 300 women marched to the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

as part of their campaign to secure voting rights for women. Demonstrators clashed with police in

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...

and many were arrested and she and her daughter were among them. She and her daughter rejoined the more militant WSPU afterwards. In 1913 she was the secretary of the Hampstead

United Suffragists The United Suffragists was a women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom. History The group was founded on 6 February 1914, by former members and supporters of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). In contrast to the WSPU, it admit ...

. She also demonstrated by refusing to pay taxes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, Lilian 1853 births 1924 deaths People from Colchester British suffragists English tax resisters