Eliza Wigham

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Elizabeth Wigham (1860)

Elizabeth (Eliza) Wigham (born February 23, 1820 , Edinburgh - died November 3, 1899 , Foxrock near Dublin ) was a leading women's suffrage activist and abolitionist in 19th century Edinburgh, Scotland. She has been involved in several major campaigns aimed at improving women's rights in the UK and she has been recognized as one of the leading citizens of Edinburgh. Her stepmother, Jane Smeal , was a leading activist in Glasgow , and her brother, John Richardson Wigham, was a noted lighthouse engineer.

Life

Eliza Wigham was born in Edinburgh on February 23, 1820, the daughter of John Tertius Wigham, a cotton and scarf manufacturer, and his wife Jane (née Richardson). The family, based at 5 South Gray Street in Edinburgh, grew up to have six children. The wighams were part of the network of leading anti-slavery Quaker families operating in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle and Dublin. Eliza's mother, older sister, and younger brother died when she was about ten years old. In 1840 her father remarried to Jane Smeal .

Campaign work

Wigham was the treasurer of the Edinburgh Ladies' Emancipation Society.

In contrast to other women's suffrage organizations that split up, the Edinburgh organization still existed in 1870. The credit for this was attributed to Wigham and her stepmother Jane Smeal.

The emancipation logo from 1866

In 1840, Wigham traveled to London with her friend Elizabeth Pease Nichol to attend the World Anti-Slavery Convention, which began on June 12th. Other participants in the event included activists such as Lucy Townsend and Mary Anne Rawson, as well as American activists such as Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton . The female delegates were obliged to sit separately from the male delegates and thus could not actively participate in the conference.

Wigham, her stepmother, and some of her friends founded the Edinburgh chapter of the National Society of Women's Suffrage, the Edinburgh branch of the National Society of Women's Suffrage. Eliza and her friend Agnes McLaren became secretaries, Priscilla Bright McLaren was the president, and Elizabeth Pease Nichol was the treasurer.

In 1863 Wigham worked with Mary Estlin on the committee of Clementia Taylor's "Ladies' London Emancipation Society". In the same year she wrote The Anti-Slavery Cause in America and its Martyrs , a short book designed to influence the British government. At the time, there was a fear that the British would join the Confederate States in the Civil War, thereby promoting slavery in the United States.

Wigham was also involved in the campaign to repeal Parliament's laws aimed at curbing prostitution. The Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts was formed in response to these laws and has been successful in pursuing their goals.

Life as a helper and carer

Eliza Wigham and her sister Mary Edmundson

Wigham's father died in 1864, after which Eliza continued to live with her stepmother Jane in their house on South Gray Street in Edinburgh. She nursed Jane until she died in November 1888 after months of serious illness. After her brother's death in 1897, Eliza sold the property to enable the move to Dublin , where, conversely, her relatives could now take care of her.

Eliza Wigham (1898)

Wigham died in Foxrock near Dublin in 1899.

Heritage and keepsake

A memorial book for Eliza Wigham was published in 1901.

In 2015, four of the women associated with the women's suffrage and abolitionism campaigns were the subject of a project by local historians. The group wanted the city's "forgotten heroines", namely Eliza Wigham, Elizabeth Pease Nichol , Priscilla Bright McLaren and Jane Smeal , to receive the credit they deserve.

See also

Web links

Commons : Eliza Wigham  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lesley M. Richmond: Wigham, Eliza (1820–1899) , In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
  2. ^ SE Fryer, 'Wigham, John Richardson (1829-1906)', rev. RC Cox, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved June 3, 2015
  3. ^ Lesley M. Richmond: Wigham, Eliza (1820–1899) , In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
  4. ↑ Elizabeth Ewan, Sue Innes, Sian Reynolds, Rose Pipes (Eds.): The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women From the Earliest Times to 2004. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press 2006, p. 376. ISBN 0-7486-2660-3
  5. ^ Annual Report of the Ladies' Emancipation Society . In: Edinburgh Ladies Emancipation Society. Wilson Anti-Slavery Collection, February 15, 1866. p. 2. jstor 60238978
  6. ↑ The Scottish Suffragists, Eliza Wigham ( Memento of the original from May 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 30, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.latebloomers.co.uk
  7. ^ Women's Anti-Slavery Organizations Spartacus Educational, Women's Anti-Slavery Organizations . Retrieved April 26, 2019
  8. ↑ Elizabeth Crawford: The Women's Suffrage Movement , p. 462
  9. ^ National Society of Women's Suffrage. Examiner ; Jan 14, 1871; 3285; British Periodicals pg 55
  10. ^ Mary Crawford: The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928. 2003. p. 209. ISBN 1-135-43402-6
  11. ↑ Eliza Wigham: Anti-slavery cause in America and its martyrs. (published 1863). Cambridge University Press 2014. ISBN 1-108-07564-9
  12. ^ Women's Anti-Slavery Organizations Spartacus Educational, Women's Anti-Slavery Organizations . Retrieved April 26, 2019
  13. ^ Lesley M. Richmond: Wigham, Eliza (1820–1899) , In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
  14. ^ Lesley M. Richmond: Wigham, Eliza (1820–1899) , In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
  15. ↑ Eliza Wigham: Eliza Wigham. A letter memorial . (Reprinted and reviewed by the Annual Monitor. [With a portrait.] 1901)
  16. ↑ Campaign to honor four 'forgotten' heroines of Scottish history , The Herald (Glasgow), June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Wigham, Eliza
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wigham, Elizabeth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Abolitionist, women's suffrage activist
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh , UK
DATE OF DEATH November 3, 1899
Place of death Foxrock , near Dublin