The National Society for Women's Suffrage was the first national group in the United Kingdom to campaign for women's right to vote. Formed on 6 November 1867, by Lydia Becker, the organisation helped lay the foundations of the women's suffrage movement.[1]
Eliza Wigham, Jane Wigham, Priscilla Bright McLaren and some of their friends set up an Edinburgh chapter of this National Society. Eliza and her friend Agnes McLaren became the secretaries.[2] By 1870, branches in Scotland were in Aberdeen, Glasgow, St. Andrews and Galloway.[3]
Jacob Bright, a Liberal politician, supported by a petition from Jane Taylour of the Galloway branch and others,[4] had suggested in 1871 that it would be useful to create a London-based organisation to lobby members of parliament concerning women's suffrage. The Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage first met on 17 January 1872.[5]
The national society was furthered later by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and the Women's Social and Political Union.[citation needed]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "The Early Suffrage Societies in the 19th century - a timeline". UK Parliament. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ^ National Society for Women's Suffrage. Examiner; 14 January 1871; 3285; British Periodicals pg 55
- ^ Leneman, Leah (2000). The Scottish Suffragettes (1st ed.). Edinburgh: National Museum of Scotland. p. 24. ISBN 9781901663402.
- ^ Crawford, Elizabeth (2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866-1928. Routledge. p. 683. ISBN 1135434018.
- ^ "The Early Suffrage Societies in the 19th century - a timeline". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 January 2018.