10 Decades On: Liverpool Women 100

2018 marks 100 years since the passing of the Representation of the People Act.

After a long hard fight, some women over the age of 30 were given the right to vote for the first time. The Act also granted men over the age of 21 the vote. It would be another 10 years until this was equalised for women over the age of 21 in 1928.

The campaign in Liverpool saw both militant and peaceful tactics employed to win the basic right to vote. Women were jailed and force fed in Walton Gaol, bombs were planted around the city and windows smashed.

 

Porcelain cat figurine, 'Votes for Women'

To mark the anniversary we have featured online, for the first time, some of the star items in our display ‘Taking liberties: Women's suffrage in Liverpool’ in The People’s Republic gallery. Items include a beautiful illuminated scroll and silver casket presented to Eleanor Rathbone and a cat figurine which may not be all that it seems... Also, to coincide with the anniversary, we will be working in partnership with a range of national and local groups to showcase women’s continuing fight for equality across our waterfront museums – Museum of Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum throughout 2018.

Also, don't miss Hilary McCollum's presentation 'Sapphic Suffragettes: The key role of lesbians in the fight for Votes for Women' on Saturday 3 February as part of our LGBT History Month Festival.