Join The Pankhurst Centre this International Women’s Day and discover the fascinating life of The Great Miss Lydia Becker, the suffrage leader who inspired Emmeline Pankhurst. Author Joanna M Williams will share Lydia Becker’s story at the home of the suffragette movement. There’ll be a glass of bubbly and the exclusive opportunity to explore the Pankhurst Museum at night, plus beautiful music from the feminist string quartet Vulva Voce as you arrive!
Lydia Becker
Manchester-born Lydia Becker was effectively the leader of the nationwide women’s suffrage movement during the later 19th century. She used a legal loophole to enable up to 1000 women to vote in the 1868 general election and persuaded the Manx parliament to allow women to vote as early as 1881. Her success in transforming attitudes laid the foundations for later suffragists like Emmeline Pankhurst to succeed in the long-standing battle for women’s votes.
About the Author
Joanna M Williams is a native of the Manchester area and studied History at the University of Manchester at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. After lecturing for the Department of Extra-Mural Studies, she taught history at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls. Her particular fascination with the nineteenth century was inspired by the enthusiasm of her sixth-form students. She has previously published a life of Abel Heywood, the radical Mayor of Manchester and followed that up with The Great Miss Lydia Becker. She is currently researching the life of Richard Marsden Pankhurst for a further, long-overdue, biography. Her other interests include singing and walking.
About Vulva Voce String Quartet
Vulva Voce is an all-female genre-defying string quartet that brings exciting, dynamic performances of music composed by women and underrepresented voices to spaces beyond the concert hall. For International Women’s Day 2023, Vulva Voce will be doing a series of pop-up performances across Manchester, celebrating female composers from the past to the present.
