Now, amongst all the press coverage of the unveiling of the statues of Ememeline Pankhurst in Manchester and that of Annie Kenney in Oldham’s Parliament Square, one fact leapt out at me which is that we have had to wait a long time for both.
In the case of Mrs Pankhurst, hers is the first statue of a woman to be erected in the city since Queen Victoria statue was unveiled in 1901 and until relatively recently the role of working class women in the campaign for the vote was largely overlooked.
At best working class women like Annie Kenney, Selina Cooper and Annot Robinson get “walk on parts” and at worst were almost completely ignored.
Many combined their campaigning activities alongside full time work and bringing up young families.
Others were also involved in their trade unions and in the campaigns to improve working conditions and during the Great War arguing for peace.
All of that said, to have two statues unveiled at the same time just eight miles apart commemorating the struggle to achieve the right of women to vote in Parliamentary elections is to be applauded.
Mrs Pankhurst’s story is well known, and now she is represented by a bronze statue by sculptor Hazel Reeves which stands in St Peter’s Square facing towards the old Free Trade Hall where some of the first demands for the vote and just a short distance from her home in Nelson Street.
The original idea came from Councillor Andrew Simcock who launched a campaign in 2015, to identify a Manchester “woman of significance” who would be remembered by a statute.
Andrew asked for suggestions and Mancunians voted for Mrs Pankhurst.
From there the project took another step forward with the invitation of 19 sculptors to produce a design from which a short list of six was chosen which resulted in the winning design by Hazel Reeves, and the result was unveiled this week.
And while that event was happening, over in Oldham the statue of Annie Kenney was also unveiled.
Ms Kenny was born in 1879, and started part-time work in a textile mill at the age of 10, before going full time at 13.
She remained at the mill for 15 years, was involved in trade-union activities, furthered her education through self-study and promoted the study of literature among her work colleagues. She was a regular church attender.
One day I hope that there may also be a statue to Annot Robinson, who was born in Scotland in 1874.*
She had become active in Scottish politics in the 1890s and by 1895 was working for the Independent Labour Party in Dundee.
After her marriage she settled in Ancoats and became active in the labour movement in Manchester, continuing her work after she and her husband parted.
Subsequently living as a single-parent in an unaccepting age, she remained an active member of the ILP and at different times of the WSPU, the NUWSS and the Women’s Labour League (WLL), Women’s War Interests Committee, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, an ebullient speaker and tireless traveller and twice a candidate in local elections.
We shall see.
Location; Manchester and Oldham
Pictures; at the unveiling of Mrs Pankhurst and Annie Kenney's statues, courtesy of Matthew Benham and Annot Rbinson, from ANNOT ROBINSON: A FORGOTTEN MANCHESTER SUFFRAGETTE**
*Annot Robinson, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Annot%20Robinson
**ANNOT ROBINSON: A FORGOTTEN MANCHESTER SUFFRAGETTE, Kate Rigby, Manchester Regional History Review, Vol 1 Nu 1 Spring 1987,
http://www.hssr.mmu.ac.uk/mcrh/files/2013/01/mrhr_01i_rigby.pdf
 |
| Mrs Pankhurst, Manchester, 2018 |
At best working class women like Annie Kenney, Selina Cooper and Annot Robinson get “walk on parts” and at worst were almost completely ignored.
Many combined their campaigning activities alongside full time work and bringing up young families.
Others were also involved in their trade unions and in the campaigns to improve working conditions and during the Great War arguing for peace.
All of that said, to have two statues unveiled at the same time just eight miles apart commemorating the struggle to achieve the right of women to vote in Parliamentary elections is to be applauded.
 |
| Looking towards the Free Trade Hall, 2018 |
The original idea came from Councillor Andrew Simcock who launched a campaign in 2015, to identify a Manchester “woman of significance” who would be remembered by a statute.
Andrew asked for suggestions and Mancunians voted for Mrs Pankhurst.
From there the project took another step forward with the invitation of 19 sculptors to produce a design from which a short list of six was chosen which resulted in the winning design by Hazel Reeves, and the result was unveiled this week.
 |
| With Annie Kenney in Oldham, 2018 |
Ms Kenny was born in 1879, and started part-time work in a textile mill at the age of 10, before going full time at 13.
She remained at the mill for 15 years, was involved in trade-union activities, furthered her education through self-study and promoted the study of literature among her work colleagues. She was a regular church attender.
One day I hope that there may also be a statue to Annot Robinson, who was born in Scotland in 1874.*
 |
| Annot Robinson, circa 1895 |
After her marriage she settled in Ancoats and became active in the labour movement in Manchester, continuing her work after she and her husband parted.
Subsequently living as a single-parent in an unaccepting age, she remained an active member of the ILP and at different times of the WSPU, the NUWSS and the Women’s Labour League (WLL), Women’s War Interests Committee, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, an ebullient speaker and tireless traveller and twice a candidate in local elections.
We shall see.
Location; Manchester and Oldham
Pictures; at the unveiling of Mrs Pankhurst and Annie Kenney's statues, courtesy of Matthew Benham and Annot Rbinson, from ANNOT ROBINSON: A FORGOTTEN MANCHESTER SUFFRAGETTE**
*Annot Robinson, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Annot%20Robinson
**ANNOT ROBINSON: A FORGOTTEN MANCHESTER SUFFRAGETTE, Kate Rigby, Manchester Regional History Review, Vol 1 Nu 1 Spring 1987,
http://www.hssr.mmu.ac.uk/mcrh/files/2013/01/mrhr_01i_rigby.pdf
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