Lydia Ernestine Becker (1827–90)
The fight for female suffrage
Overview
Manchester has played a prominent part in the women’s suffrage movement, fighting for the equal rights of women to vote alongside men in both local and national elections. The militant tactics of the early 20th-century Suffragettes, led by Manchester-born activist Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928), have been well documented. However, the Suffragettes were building upon the foundations of an earlier generation of women, who campaigned for the vote, tirelessly but peacefully, via demonstrations, petition, writing and public speaking. At the forefront of these women was Lydia Ernestine Becker.
Lydia Ernestine Becker
Lydia Becker was born in Cooper Street, Manchester in 1827. Raised in Altham, near Accrington, and in Reddish, Stockport, she was largely home-schooled and developed a lifelong interest in science. Returning to Manchester in 1865, Becker was keen to participate in the city’s intellectual life but found herself excluded from its existing literary and scientific societies on the grounds of being a woman. In response, she founded a Ladies’ Literary Society for the study of science, which first met in January 1867. Addressing inequalities was to become the focus of Becker’s life.
Becker and Female Suffrage
In June 1866, the first mass female suffrage petition was presented to the House of Commons by John Stuart Mill (1806–73), with the aim of extending voting rights “to all householders, regardless of sex.” Becker’s interest in female suffrage was roused in October 1866, when she heard a paper on ‘Reasons for the Enfranchisement of Women’, given in Manchester, by the women’s rights campaigner, Barbara Bodichon (1827–91). Becker embraced the cause with characteristic commitment. In February 1867, she became secretary of the Manchester National Society for Women’s Suffrage. The following month, she published the first of many articles on female suffrage. 10,000 copies of her inspirational text were published later as pamphlets.
“It may be denied that women have anything to do with politics; it cannot be denied that politics have a great deal to do with women.”
Lydia E Becker, ‘Female Suffrage’ from ‘The Contemporary Review’, Vol. IV, March 1867
Jacob Bright
The Manchester National Society for Women’s Suffrage enjoyed the support of a number of male members. Among these was Jacob Bright (1821–99), Liberal M P for Manchester. Bright championed the cause of female suffrage in the House of Commons, introducing the first ever female suffrage bill in 1870. While Bright demanded full female suffrage, including married women, Becker, controversially, was prepared to accept suffrage for widows and single women only.
Although opposition to the bill would persist for another half century, Bright was successful in carrying an amendment, suggested by Becker, to the Municipal Franchise Act (1869) which restored the right of unmarried female householders to vote in local municipal elections. Married women were not included until 1894.
Political Satire
The early women’s suffrage movement attracted ridicule from a large portion of the population. This view was captured in the political cartoons of the period, which lampooned the shared ideals of Becker and Bright. Bright’s commitment to the cause was seen by many as a disadvantage to his political career, while women’s involvement in politics was considered a threat to their domestic roles.
Becker, who was elected to the Manchester School Board in 1870, challenged the traditional domestic education of girls, promoting a non-gendered education system:
‘Every boy in Manchester should be taught to darn his own socks and cook his own chops”.
Lydia E Becker. At the laying of the foundation stone of Burgess Street Board School, Harpurhey (17 February 1877)
‘Women’s Suffrage Journal’
Becker is best-known as the founder and editor of the Manchester-based ‘Women’s Suffrage Journal’, which ran from 1870 until her death in 1890. Published monthly, the journal aimed to create solidarity and community among women’s suffrage campaigners. It included details of meetings, parliamentary speeches and debates, and guidance on how to prepare petitions.
Demonstrations and meetings, many with all-female participants, were an important means of attracting publicity and support. Appearing frequently on the public platform, Becker helped women to gain entry into the male-dominated sphere of public speaking. The Manchester demonstration, advertised above, was the first of a series of large-scale meetings held in industrial cities. Based at the Free Trade Hall (the site of Peterloo), which housed around 5,000 people, the meeting proved so popular that an impromptu overflow meeting had to be arranged at the Memorial Hall in Albert Square.
Legacy
Lydia Becker died on 18 July 1890. Although she did not live to see women vote in national elections, her efforts paved the way for future progress. Women in the United Kingdom achieved equal voting rights to men in 1928.
Becker’s name is listed on the Reformers’ Memorial in Kensal Green Cemetery, London. A blue plaque in her honour can be found at her family’s home, Foxdenton Hall, Chadderton. At the University of Manchester, the Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation is named after her.
Discussion Points
Consider the differences between the constitutional suffragists and the militant suffragettes.
How successful were Becker and her contemporaries in challenging the traditional private (female) and public (male) spheres in Victorian society?
How reliable are political cartoons as historical sources?
Additional Resources
Chetham’s Library’s blog ‘Bright Hopes for Suffrage: Lydia Becker and the struggle for democracy’.
Judith Fabian’s blog ‘Lydia Becker’ from the series ‘Wonder Women: Pioneering women of the University of Manchester and Manchester Museum’.
More cartoons featuring Lydia Becker and Jacob Bright can be viewed via the British Cartoon Archive.
Helen Blackburn, ‘Women’s Suffrage: A record of the women’s suffrage movement in the British Isles, with biographical sketches of Miss Becker’, (London, 1902)
Joan Parker, ‘Lydia Becker: Pioneer orator of the women’s movement’, in ‘Manchester Region History Review’, Vol. V, no. 2, Autumn/Winter 1991–2, (1991), pp. 13–20.
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