International Women's Day, local contributions part 1: Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy

International Women's Day, acknowledging local contributions part 1

International Women's Day serves as a vital reminder of the ongoing struggle for women's rights, equality, and justice worldwide. It celebrates the achievements of women, recognises the challenges they continue to face in the quest for equality, and inspires action to address these issues. This day underscores the importance of unity, advocacy, and awareness to foster a gender-equal world, honouring the contributions of women across all spheres of life. Today we are looking at two of the incredibly inspiring women who have made a difference both locally and nationally.

In 1882, Parliament received its first demand for the women's vote in a petition from a group of Yorkshire women. The driving force of this movement was former Fulneck School alumnus, Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy [1].
Referred to among contemporaries as ‘the grey matter in the brain’ of the late-Victorian women’s movement. A pacifist, humanitarian ‘free-thinker’, Wolstenholme Elmy was a controversial character and the first woman ever to speak from a public platform on the topic of marital rape. Lauded by Emmeline Pankhurst as ‘first’ among the infamous militant suffragettes of the Women’s Social and Political Union, Wolstenholme Elmy was one of Britain’s great feminist pioneers and, in her own words, an ‘initiator’ of many high-profile campaigns from the nineteenth into the twentieth century [2].

• She was born in Cheetham Hill in 1833, the third child and only daughter of Elizabeth who died shortly after her daughter's birth
• Her father the Rev. Joseph Wolstenholme, a Methodist minister, died before she was 14
• Her elder brother Joseph, was afforded an education, and became a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University
• After her father's death, Elizabeth was only permitted to study for two years at Fulneck Moravian School

However despite these challenges...

• Became headmistress of a private girls' boarding school in Boothstown, and later moved her establishment to Congleton
• Co-founded the Manchester Schoolmistresses Association and testified at the Taunton Commission
• Founded the Manchester Committee for the Enfranchisement of Women and was employed to lobby Parliament on women's issues
• Helped to establish the National Society for Women's Suffrage and later the Women's Franchise League
• Created the Women's Emancipation Union, campaigning for equality in various societal aspects
• Was active in the Women's Tax Resistance League and supported the Lancashire and Cheshire Textile and other Workers' Representation Committee
• Worked as secretary to the Married Women's Property Committee, contributing to the Married Women's Property Act 1882
• Invited Josephine Butler to be president of the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts
• Fought for the Custody of Infants Act 1873
• Lived with and eventually married Benjamin John Elmy, a women's rights supporter, with whom she had a son
• 1906 She was on stage when Keir Hardie and Pankhurst spoke to a large crowd in Trafalgar Square
• Wrote an eyewitness account of the 1906 Boggart Hole Clough meeting and the 1908 Women's Sunday where she was honoured with her own stand
• Authored several important documents relating to women's rights and suffrage:
'Report of the Married Women's Property Committee: Presented at the Final Meeting of their Friends and Subscribers' Manchester 1882
'The Infants' Act 1886: The record of three years' effort for Legislative Reform, with its results published by the Women's Printing Society 1888
'The Enfranchisement of Women' published by the Women's Emancipation Union 1892

The long road to Success:

The impact of women's suffrage in the UK was monumental, leading to significant changes in the political landscape. Women in England, Wales and Scotland finally received the vote on the same terms as men (over the age of 21, without property requirements) as a result of the Representation of the People Act 1928.

None of this could have been achieved without the will of early pioneers - emancipation for social justice and equality requires a lot of effort. Sadly it seems there will always be an element of inequality and thoughtlessness in our lives (the Post Office scandal being a recent example), if you see someone standing up for others, stand with them.

For more detailed information, it's recommended to consult additional sources or visit the links provided for comprehensive insights into Elizabeth's remarkable life and contributions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Clarke_Wolstenholme-Elmy

More about the fascinating life of Elizabeth can be found in the publication "Elizabeth: the feisty feminist" by Dr Mary Holmes. Mary also helps to fund raise on behalf of the Fulneck Moravian Museum and towards various women’s charities, and also offers talks about Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy. For more information please visit:
https://elizabethwe.co.uk

For more information about Fulneck and it's Moravian Heritage please visit:
http://www.fulneck.org.uk/?page_id=16

[1] with thanks to Fulneck School Alumni for the opening line
[2] From "Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy and the Victorian Feminist Movement: The biography of an Insurgent Woman" by Maureen Wright