DESPARD, Charlotte.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Woman's Franchise and Industry. First edition, a pamphlet on the economic advantages of the enfranchisement of women. Through her philanthropy, Despard witnessed the poverty experienced by the working classes. She came to believe that "the political emancipation of women… will not only bring about a great change in her position as a worker; but will also beneficially affect the industrial advantage of men" (p. 4). Following the death of her husband in 1890, Charlotte Despard (1844-1939) began to fund, organize, and implement welfare projects in the Nine Elms slum district of London. She also became involved in political activism and was a well-known progressive by the time the WSPU was founded in 1906. She initially served as the WSPU's honorary secretary but left in 1907 over controversies regarding its internal democracy and militant action. Shortly after, she co-founded the pacifist Women's Freedom League.Provenance: from the collection of the suffrage historian Elizabeth Crawford.

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