Description
This album contains pictures of a group of elderly ex-Suffragettes attending the ceremony for the unveiling of a commemorative plaque dedicated to Christabel Pankhurst (1880-1958) and Annie Kenney (1879-1953) in 1960 at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. On 13 October 1905, the two women committed a defiant act of public protest that marked the start of the militant suffragette campaign, which was to last until the start of WWI in 1914. The Liberal Party held a rally as part of their campaign for the upcoming General Election, where Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey, both prospective Ministers, were invited to speak. When the time for questions from the public came, Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst stood up and asked Mr. Churchill directly: “If you are elected, will you do your best to make Women’s Suffrage a government measure?”. Churchill refused to answer. This was the moment when the first “Votes for Women” banner was unfurled. The women were then forced out of the Hall and arrested.
