Silver casket presented to Eleanor Rathbone

This impressive silver casket was presented to Eleanor Rathbone, a prominent politician and campaigner, by the Liverpool Society for Woman's Suffrage, 8 July, 1918. The presentation commemorated the significance of the passing of the Representation of The People Bill, 1918, which gave the vote to tax-paying women over the age of 30 for the first time. Many prominent Liverpool people fought for this basic right. Radical tactics of suffragettes meant that some women faced imprisonment in Walton Gaol, where many were force-fed. However the fight was not over, and it would be another ten years before all women over 21 could vote – the same age as men. A plaque, inside the casket is engraved, ‘Presented to Eleanor F. Rathbone, M.A.C.C. (Pioneer in Women's Work) with a cheque & scroll by the members of the Liverpool Society for Women's Suffrage N.U.W.S.S & other friends. To commemorate the passing of the Representation of The People Bill, 1918, and in token of their affectionate gratitude for her devoted service to the cause of women's franchise, July 8th, 1918’.