Margaret Aldersley facts for kids

Margaret Aldersley (1852–1940) was an important British woman who fought for women's rights. She was a suffragist, which means she believed women should have the right to vote. She was also a feminist, working for equal rights for women, and a trade unionist, helping workers get fair treatment.

Biography

Margaret Aldersley was born in 1852 in Burnley in Lancashire. She came from a working-class family. She first worked in the textile industry, making fabrics. Later, she became a strong organizer and campaigner in Lancashire for women's suffrage, which was the movement to get women the right to vote.

Fighting for the Vote

In early 1903, some brave suffragists, including Selina Cooper, Sarah Reddish, Esther Roper, and Eva Gore-Booth, were also members of cotton trade unions. A trade union is a group of workers who join together to protect their rights and interests. These women spoke in different cotton towns in Lancashire. They asked branches of the weavers' unions to vote on whether women's suffrage should be an important issue for the union.

Most union members were women, but the leaders were men. The female members felt that the male leaders did not fully understand their needs, including the need for women to vote. Many union branches, like those in Bolton and Nelson, agreed to support the cause.

Because they felt they didn't have full support from the new Labour Representation Committee (which soon became the Labour Party), these women formed their own group. It was called the Lancashire and Cheshire Women Textile Workers' Representation Committee (TWC). This group was dedicated to women's right to vote from the very beginning. Margaret Aldersley was one of its founding members.

Campaigning Across Britain

Margaret Aldersley, along with Selina Cooper and Ada Nield Chew, were experienced activists. They traveled to different parts of the country to spread their message. They spoke to mining communities in Wales, in places like Ammanford. Other women, like Sarah Dickenson, supported local leaders in rural areas.

Around 1910, Aldersley joined the Nelson & Clitheroe Suffrage Society. Later, in 1912, she became an organizer for the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). This was a large group that worked peacefully to get women the vote. She also joined their main committee.

In 1912, the NUWSS created a special committee called the Election Fighting Fund (EFF). This fund helped collect money and support the Labour Party because they believed the Labour Party would help women get the vote. Margaret Aldersley was one of the local organizers for this important fund.

Standing Up to Opposition

In 1913, Margaret Aldersley was involved in a campaign for women's suffrage during a special election in Keighley. She and Selina Cooper went to speak at an outdoor meeting in Haworth about women's right to vote. Selina Cooper's daughter, Mary, saw what happened:

'The men threw rotten eggs and tomatoes and all sorts of things… we sheltered in a café. Mrs Aldersley went out and came back crying - covered with eggs and tomatoes… My mother went out, and she said, "I'm stopping here, whatever you throw, so go and fetch all the stuff you've got to throw, because," she says, "this blooming village would never have been known about but for three women - the Brontes".'

This shows how determined these women were, even when people tried to stop them.

Later Years

In 1915, Margaret Aldersley was invited to a peace conference for women's suffrage in The Hague. However, she could not go because it was during World War I, and travel was restricted.

After the war, in the 1920s, Aldersley and Selina Cooper worked on local community issues, helping people in their area. In 1934, they became involved in fighting against fascism. This was when Oswald Mosley formed the British Union of Fascists (BUF), a group with extreme ideas. Despite their efforts, the BUF was able to start a branch in Nelson, Lancashire. Some mill-workers, who were unhappy with their situation, were convinced by Mosley's ideas to help the textile industry.

Margaret Aldersley passed away in 1940. She dedicated her life to fighting for fairness and equality for women and workers.