Elsie Bowerman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elsie Bowerman
Elsie Bowerman (c. 1910)
Personal details
Born	18 December 1889 Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, United Kingdom
Died	18 October 1973 (aged 83) Hailsham, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom
Political party	Women's Social and Political Union

Elsie Edith Bowerman (born December 18, 1889 – died October 18, 1973) was a brave British lawyer and activist. She fought for women's rights as a suffragette. Elsie was also a political activist and a survivor of the famous ship, the RMS Titanic.

Elsie's Early Life

Elsie Edith Bowerman was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. She was the only daughter of William Bowerman and Edith Martha Barber. Her father was a successful businessman. He passed away when Elsie was just five years old.

When Elsie was 11, in 1901, she went to Wycombe Abbey as a boarding student. She was the youngest student there at the time. Later, she wrote a book about her headmistress, Frances Dove. After studying in Paris for a while, Elsie went to Girton College in Cambridge. She studied old and modern languages and finished her studies in 1911.

Fighting for Women's Votes

While at Girton College, Elsie became a strong supporter of women's right to vote. These women were called suffragettes. She helped by handing out the newspaper Votes for Women. She also planned events for other students who supported the cause.

Once, the famous suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst even stayed at Elsie's college for a night. This was when Emmeline gave a talk in Cambridge. Elsie was an active member of the WSPU. This group worked hard for women's voting rights.

Elsie campaigned for the WSPU during the general election in 1910. She spoke to a crowd of 1,000 people in Hastings. She was joined by other activists like Evelyn Wharry and Victor Duval.

After the 1910 election, the suffragettes paused their protests. They hoped a new law, called the Conciliation Bill, would give women the right to vote. But in November 1910, the government stopped supporting the bill. In response, suffragettes marched to Parliament Square. There were clashes with the police. This event became known as Black Friday. Elsie's mother, Edith, who was also a WSPU member, took part in this protest.

In 1914, Elsie became the main organiser for the WSPU in Eastbourne.

Aboard the Titanic

On April 10, 1912, Elsie Bowerman and her mother Edith boarded the RMS Titanic in Southampton. They were first-class passengers. Their cabin was number 33 on deck E. They were going to America and Canada to visit Elsie's father's relatives.

Both women had been very active in the fight for women's votes right up until they left. The Saturday before sailing, Elsie attended a meeting in Hastings to support the cause.

At first, Elsie and her mother were reported missing after the Titanic sank. But both women were saved in lifeboat 6. Other survivors in their lifeboat included Molly Brown and Frederick Fleet. He was the ship's lookout who first saw the iceberg. The suffragette newspaper, Votes for Women, was very happy they survived. It said they were "very enthusiastic workers in the cause." After the Titanic disaster, they continued their trip. They visited British Columbia, Klondyke, and Alaska.

World War One and Russia

During World War I, Elsie still worked closely with the Pankhurst family. She helped organise the Women's War Procession in July 1916. Later, Evelina Haverfield asked Elsie to join the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service.

Elsie worked as an orderly in Serbia in 1916 and 1917. On her way back to England, she saw the start of the Russian Revolution in Petrograd in March 1917.

The Women's Party

After some women gained the right to vote in 1918, Christabel Pankhurst decided to run for Parliament. She was a candidate for the Women's Party. This party was a new version of the WSPU, started by Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst. It combined ideas about women's rights with national pride.

Elsie was not old enough to vote in the 1918 election. But she worked as Christabel's election agent. This meant she helped manage Christabel's campaign.

The Women's Guild of Empire

In late 1919 or early 1920, Elsie helped start a group called The Women's Guild of Empire. She co-founded it with Flora Drummond, another former suffragette. By 1925, the group had 20,000 members. This organisation was against fascism and communism. It supported the Conservative Party.

The Guild did not like trade unions. They believed that strikes caused unemployment after the war. A newspaper called The Scotsman said the Guild was "one of the most active organisations for countering Communist or Bolshevist propaganda in Scotland today."

In April 1926, the Guild organised a big march in London. They protested against industrial problems that led to the General Strike. Their slogan was 'Women Unite to Save the Nation.' Elsie wrote to The Spectator newspaper to promote the event. She said that 20,000 women were expected to attend. She stressed that these women were "the wives of working men who have had personal experience of strikes, and know what hardships they mean."

Becoming a Lawyer

The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 allowed women to become lawyers for the first time. Elsie was among the first women to become a barrister. She joined Middle Temple and became a barrister in 1924. She worked as a lawyer until 1938.

Elsie was the first woman barrister to appear at the Old Bailey court. She was part of the team prosecuting Harry Pollitt, a well-known communist, for libel. She also worked on the South Eastern Circuit, which was a route barristers traveled for cases in England and Wales. Elsie also wrote a legal book called The Law of Child Protection.

Elsie's Later Life

In 1947, Elsie went to the United States. She helped set up the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. This group works for women's rights around the world.

When she returned, she lived near her mother in St Leonards-on-Sea. Later, she moved to a country house near Hailsham. She passed away there after having a stroke.

Images for kids

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  Elsie Bowerman (c. 1910)