The British Dominions Women's Suffrage Union (BDWSU) was a women's organization, founded in 1913 and dissolved in 1922.

Foundation

The Union was founded in New Zealand in February 1913 by

Margaret Hodge Margaret Eve Hodge, Baroness Hodge of Barking (, formerly Watson; born 8 September 1944), is a British politician and life peer, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Barking from 1994 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she was p ...

and Harriet Newcomb. It organized the suffrage organisations of the British colonies and aimed to foster women's equality throughout the British Empire and facilitate communication between dominion and metropolitan organisations. Among its members were New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Canada. The Union held international conferences in London in 1916 and 1918. A deputation was organised to the British Home Secretary in December 1916.

Members

Members included British suffragist

Dorothy Pethick Dorothy Pethick (1881–1970) was a British suffragette and an organiser of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). She was force fed in prison and was awarded the Hunger Strike Medal. Early life Pethick was born in Bristol, Somerset ...

, who served as honorary secretary in 1916 and South African suffragist Daisy Dorothea Solomon who worked as literature secretary. It was also supported by British suffragists

Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English political activist and writer. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897–1919 led Brita ...

Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (; 5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was an English Feminism, feminist and Socialism, socialist activist and writer. Following encounters with women-led labour activism in the United States, she worked to organise worki ...

and

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence (; 21 October 1867 – 11 March 1954) was a British women's rights activist, suffragist and pacifist. Early life Pethick-Lawrence was born in 1867 in Clifton, Bristol as Emmeline Pethick. He ...

Dissolved

The Union changed its name to British Dominions Women Citizens' Union in 1918. In 1922, it was dissolved in to the British Overseas Committee of the

International Woman Suffrage Alliance The International Alliance of Women (IAW; , AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international organization that campaigned for women's suff ...

References

{{Authority control Suffrage organisations in the United Kingdom