THE PANKHURST FAMILY
Emmeline Pankhurst and her family were radical Mancunians – they were a revolutionary, dysfunctional and passionate lot. Politics came first – even before family – and there were many fallouts, plot twists and suffering in the pursuit of the campaign to get women the vote.
Delve deeper into our intrepid family.
Emmeline Pankhurst (1858 - 1928)
Born Emmeline Goulden in Moss Side, Manchester on 15th July 1858, Emmeline Pankhurst is best known as an activist and leader of the suffragette movement, campaigning for women’s right to vote (enfranchisement). In 1879, she married Richard Pankhurst, a lawyer and supporter of the women's suffrage movement.
Emmeline and her family moved to 62 Nelson Street when Richard’s death in 1898 left them in financial difficulty. She took on a paid role as registrar of births and deaths which she administered from the house.
Emmeline was a member of the Independent Labour Party and a founder of the Women’s Franchise League before focusing on for women’s enfranchisement independently of any political party.
On 10th October 1903, alongside her eldest daughter Christabel, she founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the parlour of 62 Nelson Street, whose sole aim was gaining women the vote. She coined the famous WSPU slogan “Deeds not Words”.
The WSPU became known for their use of direct-action militant tactics including open air protest rallies, smashing windows, arson and hunger strikes. Emmeline was arrested on at least 7 occasions and imprisoned, going on hunger strike herself.
The WSPU’s militancy was ended abruptly at the outbreak of war in 1914, when Emmeline encouraged members to support the war effort. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave voting rights to some women (aged over 30) but equal voting rights with men (at 21) were not granted until 2nd July 1928. Emmeline died, aged 69, on 14 June 1928 just before equal enfranchisement was achieved.
Richard Pankhurst (1834-1898)
Born in Stoke in 1834, Richard Marsden Pankhurst was a barrister and active supporter of the women’s suffrage movement. He wrote the Married Women's Property Acts of 1870 and 1882, which allowed women to keep earnings or property acquired before and after marriage.
He was 24 years older than Emmeline when they met, marrying her in Manchester in 1878. Together they had five children: Christabel, Sylvia, Francis Henry, Adela and Henry Francis. Alongside Emmeline he set up the Women’s Franchise League. He stood unsuccessfully for parliament 3 times.
Richard died suddenly from stomach ulcers on 5th July 1898, devastating his family and leaving only a small amount of money for them to survive on, which meant the family had to move to a smaller rented house at 62 Nelson Street.
Christabel Pankhurst (1880-1958)
Born in Trafford, Manchester on 22nd September 1880, Christabel Harriette Pankhurst co-founded the WSPU with Emmeline. Credited with organising the militant tactics of the suffragette movement, Christabel was a popular leader. She trained as a lawyer like her father, but as a woman could not practice the law.
She was the first suffragette to be arrested for the cause, alongside Annie Kenney, after disrupting a Liberal Party meeting in Manchester in 1905. Their actions (shouting and unfurling a banner reading “Votes for Women”) received worldwide attention after they were sentenced to jail.
Christabel was arrested and imprisoned several times, fleeing to France in 1913 to escape imprisonment again under the Cat & Mouse Act. On return in 1914, she approved the end of suffragette militant action and concentrated her efforts on the war. In 1918, Christabel stood as an MP candidate in Smethwick but was narrowly defeated. Moving to America in 1921, she became a religious evangelist. She died in California, USA in 1958.
Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960)
Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst was born in Old Trafford on 5th May 1882. In 1903, Sylvia trained as an artist at the Manchester School of Art. She was commissioned to paint murals in memory of her father Richard at a new Independent Labour Party Hall in Salford but discovered that the hall would not admit women. Emmeline and Christabel were outraged, and it helped convince them of the need for women to organise independently.
From 1906, Sylvia started to work full-time for the WSPU. She designed the WSPU logo and various leaflets, banners, and posters. Between February 1913 and August 1914, Sylvia was arrested eight times for protest actions in London. Under the Cat and Mouse Act, she was released for short periods to recuperate from hunger striking and then re-arrested.
Sylvia’s socialist beliefs in equality for all meant that she regularly clashed with the plans that Emmeline and Christabel had for the WSPU. In January 1914, after meeting Christabel in Paris, she was ejected from the WSPU. She also had a child, Richard, with her unmarried Italian partner, which further drove a wedge between her and Emmeline.
Sylvia later lived and worked in Ethiopia supporting Emperor Haile Selassie in rebuilding his country after independence. She died there in 1960, was given a state funeral and is buried outside Addis Ababa Cathedral.
Adela Pankhurst (1885-1961)
Adela Constantia Mary Pankhurst was born in Manchester on 19th June 1885. The youngest of the Pankhurst daughters, Adela also joined the WSPU, working in Scotland and being arrested several times for protest action, including slapping a policeman. She was amongst the first group of suffragettes to go on hunger strike in prison.
Adela also had socialist beliefs and, disagreeing with the more militant direction the WSPU was taking, alongside the insistence on women only, Adela and Emmeline fell out. Emmeline gave her daughter £20 with a letter of introduction to Australia based suffragist Vida Goldstein and advised her to emigrate. They never spoke again.
Adela emigrated to Australia where she met and married Thomas Walsh. In 1920, she became a founding member of the Communist Party of Australia, from which she was later expelled.
Becoming disillusioned with communism she founded the anti-communist Australian Women's Guild of Empire in 1927 and in 1941 co-founded the far-right nationalistic, Australia First Movement. She was arrested and interned for 6 months in March 1942 for her advocacy of peace with Japan.
Sylvia and Thomas Walsh had five children together. She died in Australia in 1961.
Harry Pankhurst (1889-1910)
Henry Francis Pankhurst was born In London on 7th July 1889. Henry supported the WSPU, giving speeches at school about women’s right to vote for which he was bullied. Named after his brother Frank (Francis Henry) who died young, Henry was also known as Harry Pankhurst. He died aged 20 in 1910, possibly from polio.
Frank Pankhurst (1884 to 1888)
Francis Henry Pankhurst was born in Kent in 1884. He died in St Pancras, London, aged 4, on 11th September 1888, from diphtheria.
