The British suffragist history is full of various events, gruesome details and successes in the struggle to give women the rights they deserve. One of the most important centres of this movement was London. Meetings and protests were often held here and important information came from the capital of Great Britain. The city can boast of a large number of outstanding personalities who, despite all obstacles, continued to fight for equality. One of them was Lucy Minnie Baldock. What is known about her life and what role did she play in the development of feminism? Learn more at londonka.
Early life and work in the manufacturing
Lucy Minnie Baldock was born in London on November 20, 1864. Her early life was not very special. Her family was poor, so the girl began to work hard at a young age. She worked in terrible conditions at a factory producing shirts and felt constant exhaustion. In 1888, the girl married Harry Baldock. A little later, they had two children.
The first steps towards changes in the social sphere
In general, the fate of Lucy Minnie Baldock could be the same as the life of many women of that time. Caring for the family and raising children were considered the greatest achievements of a woman. However, Lucy Minnie Baldock chose a different path. She and her husband joined the Independent Labour Party. The ideas of this political formation were important for the woman because the party sought to draw the attention of the authorities to the working class. This is how the activities of the future suffragist began. She met like-minded and famous people, and to her great surprise, there were a lot of them. The first difficulties arose in that period. Lucy Minnie Baldock experienced first-hand the problem of inequality in society because a woman didn’t have the right to become a member of Parliament. Despite this, Lucy still played a big role in politics. In particular, she chaired the local unemployment fund, and in 1905, she was elected as a candidate for the West Ham Board of Guardians.
Participation in the struggle for women’s rights and arrest
The most important thing in the suffragette’s life was the creation of the London branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union. This political movement was struggling to grant women the right to vote in the first place. It took place in 1906 and was co-founded by socialist feminist Annie Kenney. From 1906, Lucy Minnie Baldock increasingly expressed her views on women’s rights and participated in various events dedicated to the issue. In 1907, she supported the suffragettes who were imprisoned. Together with other representatives of similar organisations, they held rallies and protests near prisons.
The activities aimed at changes in the social and political spheres led to the arrest of Lucy Baldock herself. In 1908, the suffragette, together with the famous political activist Emmeline Pankhurst, walked down the street to the House of Commons. That day, the activists wanted to present a petition about stopping the criminal accusation of suffragists, which they created at a conference in Caxton Hall. However, the women were arrested for resisting and obstructing the police. Lucy Minnie Baldock spent about a month in jail and was arrested again in October 1909. In general, Baldock’s life has been full of struggle for the rights and freedoms that a modern woman possesses. It became the impetus for the creation of the film The Right to Vote, while Lucy Minnie Baldock herself went down in history for her courage and justice.