Margaret Ashton

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Margaret Ashton (born January 19, 1856 in Withington near Manchester ; died October 15, 1937 in Didsbury ) was an English women's suffrage activist , local politician, pacifist and philanthropist . She was the first woman in the City Council ( City Council ) from Manchester.

Live and act

A debate in the “Free Trade Hall” between women's suffrage activists and opponents. Ashton is third from the left in the front row.

Margaret Ashton was the third of six daughters and three sons of Thomas Ashton, a wealthy cotton manufacturer. Her father was a Unitarian and an active member of the Liberal Party ; he had progressive ideas about social reform.

Local politician in Manchester

After her father's death in 1898, Margaret became more active in politics and was elected to the Withington Urban District Council in 1900. Eight years later, she became the first woman on Manchester City Council. She was the first woman who ran for election as a councilor in "Manchester City Council" and was elected in 1906 for the district of Manchester-Withington. As a member of the Manchester's public health committee and chair of the maternity and child welfare subcommittee, Ashton supported municipal mothers' hospitals and promoted a free milk program for young children and young mothers. In 1914 she founded the “Manchester Babies Hospital” together with the doctor Catherine Chisholm (1878–1952).

Women's suffrage activist and pacifist

In 1906, Ashton resigned from the Liberal Party when it became clear to them that Henry Campbell-Bannerman had decided that his administration would not have time to allow the legislative process on women's suffrage to proceed in parliamentary fashion. Ashton became a board member of the North of England Society for Women's Suffrage and supported The Common Cause magazine financially.

Ashton has always stayed true to the constitutional methods of gaining the right to vote for women. Like many other members of the NUWSS, she was afraid of the militant actions of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and feared that this militancy would alienate possible supporters of women's suffrage. Ashton admired the courage of the suffragettes and 1906, it merged with Millicent Fawcett together and Lilias Ashworth Hallett to organize the banquet at the Savoy that the dismissal of WSPU prisoners from Holloway Prison celebrated

The 1914 Open Christmas Letter, which Ashton also signed

With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Ashton was part of the internationalist minority that separated from the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and the suffragette movement. She was a signatory of the "Open Christmas Letter". This “Open Christmas Letter”, published for the First Christmas of World War I, was a public Christmas message for peace “to women in Germany and Austria”, signed by a group of 101 British suffragettes. It was published in Jus Suffragii in January 1915 .

She also started a branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Manchester.

Misunderstood pacifist

Margaret Ashton's pacifism made her unpopular during World War I. She was branded a pro-German and kicked out of Manchester City Council in 1921. Their social work was never properly recognized; a portrait of Henry Lamb in honor of her 70th birthday was rejected by the Manchester City Art Gallery in protest against their pacifist views.

In her later life she joined the National Council of Women and helped found the Manchester Women's Citizens Association.

Mary Ashton died at her home at 12 Kingston Road, Didsbury on October 15, 1937.

Honors

In 1938, some of Ashton's friends and admirers formed a memorial committee that initiated two activities:

  • Foundation of an armchair in Manchester Town Hall for use by the Mayor and other guests. There was a plaque on the back of the chair listing their merits.
  • A biennial series of commemorative lectures organized by the Victoria University of Manchester , alternatively given by the University and the Corporation of Manchester (City Council). The first lecture on the Victorians was given on March 20, 1941 by Mary Stocks , the principal of Westfield College .

In 1992, Harpurhey High School for girls reopened as Margaret Ashton Sixth Form College.

Her name and picture (and that of 58 other supporters of women's suffrage) is on the base of the Millicent Fawcett statue in Parliament Square , London; it was unveiled in late 2018.

Margaret Ashton is one of six women on a nomination list for a new public statue in Manchester. The winner is to be announced in 2019.

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Short biography of Margaret Ashton.Retrieved April 10, 2019
  2. ^ Short biography of Margaret Ashton.Retrieved April 10, 2019
  3. ↑ Who was Margaret Ashton? From: Where I live, Manchester.Retrieved 10 April 2019
  4. ^ Peter Mohr: Ashton, Margaret (1856–1937), local politician and philanthropist. (= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) Oxford University Press 2004-15. Retrieved April 10, 2019
  5. ^ Short biography of Margaret Ashton.Retrieved April 10, 2019
  6. ^ Jill Liddington: The long road to Greenham: feminism and anti-militarism in Britain since 1820. London, Virago 1989. | ISBN 978-0-86068-688-0
  7. ^ Short biography of Margaret Ashton.Retrieved April 10, 2019
  8. ^ Mary Stocks, Baroness Stocks: Margaret Ashton Memorial Lecture, March 20th, 1941 : Title: The Victorians (= Manchester University Lectures Series, No. 36). Manchester University Press
  9. ↑ Historic statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett unveiled in Parliament Square. Accessed April 10, 2019
  10. ^ First statue of a woman in Parliament Square unveiled (English in The Guardian ) Retrieved April 10, 2019
  11. ↑ Millicent Fawcett statue unveiling: the women and men whose names will be on the plinth (English, with all women and men listed on the plinth.) Retrieved April 10, 2019
  12. ↑ Six Memorable Women on the Shortlist. Accessed April 10, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Ashton, Margaret
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English suffragette, pacifist, local politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Withington near Manchester
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 1937
Place of death Didsbury