Sophia Jane Goulden (''née'' Craine; 1833 – 1910) was a Manx woman known for being the mother of suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst and

Mary Jane Clarke Mary Jane Clarke (''née'' Goulden; 1862– 1910), was a British suffragette. She died on Christmas Day 1910 two days after being released from prison where she had been force fed. She was described in her obituary by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence ...

and she is credited with having an important forming influence on both her daughters’ political beliefs.

Early life

Sophia Jane Craine was born in Lonan,

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, in 1833, to William Craine and Jane (''née'' Quine). She was baptised 3 November 1833. Although William was a shoemaker by trade, he and his wife came to manage boarding houses in

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

, initially Tynwald House at 3 North Quay, and then at Christian Road. In her youth Sophia was described as being ‘an unusually good-looking young lady’ and it is likely that she met Robert Goulden through the boarding house, whether he visited it on business or on holiday. Six years her elder, Robert Goulden was at that time an errand boy at a

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

manufacturers. Sophia and Robert were married on 8 September 1853 at Kirk Braddan, when Sophia was 18 and Robert 24. The newly married couple moved to Manchester, where Robert Goulden rose to become managing director of his own manufacturing business. Although the family would visit the Isle of Man regularly through her life, it was in Manchester that Sophia had her eleven children, ten of whom survived into adulthood: Walter,

Emmeline ''Emmeline, The Orphan of the Castle'' is the first novel written by English writer Charlotte Smith; it was published in 1788. A Cinderella story in which the heroine stands outside the traditional economic structures of English society and ...

, Edmund,

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, Herbert, Effie, Robert, Ada Sophia, Alfred Harold and Eva Gertrude.

Political engagement

Later in her life, Emmeline was to write of her parents:

‘Those men and women are fortunate who are born at a time when a great struggle for human freedom is in progress. It is an added good fortune to have parents who take a personal part in the great movements of their time. I am glad and thankful that this was my case.’

Described as having ‘a bright and attractive personality,’ Sophia and her husband established themselves as members of Manchester's ‘radical elite,’ exposing their family to radical politics and bringing them into contact with ‘the foremost intellectuals of the time.’ It was amidst this ‘atmosphere of reformist zeal’ in the Goulden household that Sophia took her eldest daughter, Emmeline, to her first suffrage meeting in around 1872. Then aged 14, Emmeline left the meeting ‘a confirmed

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

.’ The speaker they saw that day was

Lydia Becker Lydia Ernestine Becker (24 February 1827 – 18 July 1890) was a leader in the early British suffrage movement, as well as an amateur scientist with interests in biology and astronomy. She established Manchester as a centre for the suffrage mo ...

, who was to play an important role in the Isle of Man's becoming the first country in the world to grant votes to women in 1881. When her children were to go on their important roles in the suffragette movement, it was reported that Sophia ‘naturally approved and was entirely in sympathy with them in the matter, and was greatly enthusiastic to secure the UK.html"_;"title="United_Kingdom.html"_;"title="nowiki/>United_Kingdom">UK">United_Kingdom.html"_;"title="nowiki/>United_Kingdom">UKvote_for_women.’

__Later_life_

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Later life

file:Mary Jane Clarke.jpg">her daughter Mary Jane Clarke - died after force feeding Sophia kept up the connection with the Isle of Man, generally visiting the Island for their summer holidays each year throughout her life. By this time Sophia's mother had moved to 9 Strathallan Crescent, Douglas, which was then bought by Robert Goulden in 1878. It was also here at Strathallan Crescent that Robert died on 24 April 1892, leaving Sophia to live on at the property with just her son, Walter, whose health was poor. Emmeline, Mary, Christabel Pankhurst, Christabel and others of her family continued to visit her on the Isle of Man, until her death in 1910 at the age of 75. Having been in poor health for some months, she had ‘an attack of Classification of pneumonia, double pneumonia’ which led to her death at 5 o’clock on 22 April 1910 at her home. Goulden was buried at Braddan New Cemetery, beside her husband. She left an estate worth £789 15s 1d and a will which stated that ‘the share which any female shall take under this my will shall be for her sole and separate use independently of any husband and of his debts.’ Sophia did not live to see her daughter

become the first suffragette to die for the cause later that year. She never saw the success of the Suffragette, Suffragette movement and the

enfranchisement Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

of women in the UK, although she had had the vote as a widowed property owner, for nearly thirty years in the Isle of Man.

Legacy

In 1981 Sophia Goulden, along with her daughter, Emmeline, was commemorated with a stamp issued by the

Isle of Man Post Office The Isle of Man Post Office ( gv, Oik Postagh Ellan Vannin), which formerly used the trading name Isle of Man Post, operates postal collection, ancillary mail services, philatelic goods and delivery services and post office counter services on ...

celebrating the enfranchisement of women on the Isle of Man in 1881. In 2016, the ''Friends of Sophia Goulden'' was established in order to 'bring Sophia's role in the history of women's suffrage to greater public attention and to raise funds to create a suitable commemorative monument to her on the island.' In September 2018, a blue plaque in her honour was unveiled at her former home on Strathallan Crescent in Douglas on the

where she lived at the end on her life. She was only the fourth person born on the Isle of Man to receive the honour. Her great-great-granddaughter,

Helen Pankhurst Helen Pankhurst (born 1964) is a British women's rights activist, scholar and writer. She is currently CARE International's senior advisor working in the UK and Ethiopia. She is the great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and granddau ...

said: "Sophia's role as a campaigner in the movement, and as mother guiding the interest of her more famous daughter, have so far received insufficient recognition. The plaque can start to change this. Moreover, it's fitting that this plaque will be put up on the Isle of Man, where Sophia came from and returned to, but also the nation that led the way in giving women the right to vote."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goulden, Sophia British feminists British women's rights activists Feminism and history Emmeline Pankhurst Manx women 1833 births 1910 deaths Manx people Deaths from pneumonia in England