I finally got my hands on a biography, 'Emmeline Pankhurst', by Paula Bartley, published in 2002 by Routledge.
- Pankhurst's militancy is partly attributed to her Manx heritage; Manx women, inhabiting the Isle of Man, had more legal and political rights than English and thus gained the right to vote in 1881.
- Emmeline had four sisters and six brothers (although the eldest died at only 2.5 years old)
- E.P's family fostered her 'commitment to suffrage and her emancipatory politics'.
- Her parents were committed to social reform so E.P was exposed to politics and was surrounded by intelligentsia her parents were acquainted with
- Emmeline's parents encouraged her to practically do something to stop injustices she was passionate about
- At the age of ten, E.P was affected by the Fenian Revolt whereby the leaders of the rebellion killed a police officer while escaping from a prison van.
- E.P stated, 'I had always been an unconscious suffragist. With my temperament and my surroundings I could scarcely have been otherwise'.
- Originally attended a boarding school- in her time, females were generally educated poorly- majority did not attend school but the Pankhurst's were wealthy enough to send Emmeline to school.
- Victorian ideal of a perfectly educated woman: decorative, poised, empty-headed companion for a future husband.
- Emmeline married Richard Pankhurst in 1879 at the age of 21- he was 23 years older.
- Richard: middle class, radical idealist, committed to social reform. It has been said that 'she (E.P) had a smouldering fire, he kindled the flame'
- He was committed to women's suffrage, an active member of the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage
- It is misleading to suggest that it was Emmeline's parents or Richard who shaped her into the political activist she was, as she essentially developed a conscience of her own, however, they were substantial influences.
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