Suffragette Mrs Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy

Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy was an ardent women's rights campaigner. She received only minimal formal education and had to educate herself from home. She became a member of the Kensington Society, a group of 11 women including Emily Davis and Elizabeth Garrett, who were all pursuing careers in medicine or education. In 1865 the group drafted a petition asking Parliament to give women the vote. The petition was taken to MPs Henry Fawcett and John Stewart Mill and in June 1866 it was presented to the House of Commons. The petition bore more than 1,500 names. The petition was unsuccessful and the women established the London's Society for Women's Suffrage.