Mary Adelaide Broadhurst (23 May 1860 – 8 December 1928) was a British agricultural reformer and radical. She was a leading

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 ...

who founded the National Land Council which trained women during the first world war to work on the land. After the war she championed the rights of Palestine and resisted the rise of Bolsheviks.

Life

Broadhurst was born in Chorlton-on-Medlock in 1860. Her parents were Maria (born Hutchinson) and William Broadhurst and she was their eldest child. Her father was a city councillor in Manchester, a bookkeeper and accountant. She was awarded an MA degree by the University of London and then taught at Liverpool Ladies' College. In 1880 she moved to Glasgow and worked as a science teacher at the

Park School for Girls Park School for Girls was an independent all-girls school situated in Glasgow, Scotland. The school merged with Laurel Bank School and the resulting Laurel Park School was absorbed into Hutchesons' Grammar School in 2002. History The school was ...

, Glasgow. She aimed to introduce practical laboratory study in the physical sciences and in 1882 also joined the Glasgow Natural History Society. Broadhurst's public life began as a leader in the women's suffrage movement. She and

Margaret Milne Farquharson Margaret Milne McConnachie Farquharson (17 August 1884 – after 1936) was a Scottish suffragette, MP candidate and leader of the National Political League campaigning for Palestine. Life Farquharson was born in 1884. In 1908 she graduated wit ...

had been the salaried Liverpool organisers for 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 ...

, but the WFL failed to establish a voice distinct from the WSPU despite some novel campaigning. Money was requested for a full-time organiser but the posts were not supported after January 1909. In 1911 she formed the National Political League which was an apolitical group supporting reform. She was its president until her death. Suffragette and funder

Janie Allan Janie Allan (born Jane Allan; 28 March 1868 – 29 April 1968)Ewan ''et al.'' (2006), p. 11 was a Scottish activist and fundraiser for the suffragette movement of the early 20th century. Early life and family Janie Allan was born to Jane Smit ...

, socialist Ethel Annakin Snowden, suffragette

Laura Ainsworth Laura Frances Ainsworth (1885 – 1958) was a British teacher and suffragette. She was employed by the Women's Social and Political Union and was one of the first suffragettes to be force-fed. She left the WSPU in 1912 in protest at the ejection ...

, MP George Lansbury and

John Scurr John Scurr (born John Rennie; 6 April 1876 – 10 July 1932) was an English Labour Party politician and trade union official who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mile End from 1923 to 1931. Scurr was born in Brisbane, Australia, the son ...

were amongst the league's supporters. She was the president and Margaret Milne Farquharson was the secretary and the NPL was based in St James Street in London. Ww1 women on the land

During the war the NPL created the National Land Council. This body created eleven locations in Britain where women could be trained to work on the land. The National Political League changed its name in 1917 to the National Political Reform League. By 1922 the NPL had aligned themselves with supporting the Palestinians and Arabs in general. Broadhurst wrote a nationalistic letter to the Times and to parliament. It would appear that the NPL were supporting the Arab cause as they objected to the UK governments support for Zionism and they wanted to resist that and the rise of Bolshevikism. The NPL was funded by leading Muslims and UK government cabinet members were advised to avoid it. It was trying to undermine or overturn the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

. Broadhurst died in 1928. From 1929 the NPL continued its work and it was in touch with the Muslim–Christian Alliance of Palestine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadhurst, Mary Adelaide 1860 births 1928 deaths People from Chorlton-on-Medlock English suffragettes