Elizabeth Knight (31 August 1869 – 29 October 1933) was a British physician and campaigner for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. She was treasurer and a financial supporter of 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 was a non-violent and anti-war suffrage group.

Life

Knight was born in 1869. Her father left her a substantial inheritance. After studying at

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...

, Cambridge and then training at the

London School of Medicine for Women The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW) established in 1874 was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. The patrons, vice-presidents, and members of the committee that supported and helped found the London School of Me ...

she became a general practitioner from 1904. She joined the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

in 1907. A member of the

, she was imprisoned in 1908 after attempting to interview Prime Minister

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

at 10 Downing Street. There she wrote “Social and Sanitary Conditions of Prison Life”. She served further prison sentences for her part in the

Women's Tax Resistance League The Women's Tax Resistance League (WTRL) was from 1909 to 1918 a direct action group associated with the Women's Freedom League that used tax resistance to protest against the disenfranchisement of women during the British women's suffrage move ...

. Knight was a source of funds for the Women's Freedom League. She took over as treasurer from Constance Tite in 1912 where she brought more calm to the financial situation. Before she was appointed the league had suffered from occasions when it had to appeal to its members for loans. Knight devoted a lot of her time and introduced new fundraising schemes for the league although finances were also helped by large donations by an "anonymous" person. It is suspected that this person was Knight. Knight was one of the leaseholders of their premises in Holborn together with

Charlotte Despard Charlotte Despard (née French; 15 June 1844 – 10 November 1939) was an Anglo-Irish suffragist, socialist, pacifist, Sinn Féin activist, and novelist. She was a founding member of the Women's Freedom League, Women's Peace Crusade, and the I ...

, Octavia Lewin and Alice and Edward Green. Within the building was the Minerva Cafe. This cafe should not be confused with the Minerva Club which was at 28a

Brunswick Square Brunswick Square is a public garden and ancillary streets along two of its sides in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is overlooked by the School of Pharmacy and the Foundling Museum to the north; the Brunswick Centre to the w ...

and was paid for by Alice Green and Knight. The club was used for meetings but also acted as a hostel for suffrage activists from 1920. Knight died in 1933 following a car accident in Brighton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Elizabeth 1869 births 1933 deaths 20th-century British medical doctors British women medical doctors Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Women's Freedom League Women philanthropists British philanthropists Place of birth missing