Edexcel: C2: Britain, c.1860-1930: The Changing Position of Women and the Suffrage Question

Chronology

Year	Event
1832	Great Reform Act
1857	Divorce Act
1860	Nursing School for Women established at St Thomas’ Hospital, London
1864	First Contagious Diseases Act
1865	Elizabeth Garrett Anderson becomes first woman to qualify as a doctor
1866	J.S. Mill presents women’s suffrage to Parliament
1867	Mill’s amendment to include women in the Second Reform Bill defeated
	Second Reform Act
	Manchester National Society for Women’s Suffrage founded
	London National Society for Women’s Suffrage founded
	National Society for Women’s Suffrage (NSWS) founded
1869	Single women able to vote in town elections
	Girton College founded
	Secret ballot
	Propertied women given the right to vote in municipal elections
1869–1918	Women gain the vote in the USA
1870	Education Act
	Married Women’s Property Act
1875	First woman Poor Law Guardian elected
1877	National Society for Women’s Suffrage reunited
1878	Domestic Science compulsory for girls in Board Schools
	London University admits women
1879	Somerville and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, founded
1881	Elementary schooling compulsory between the ages of 5 and 13
	Women gain the vote in Isle of Man
1882	Married Women’s Property Act
1883	Royal Holloway College, London, founded
	Corrupt Practices Act
1884	Matrimonial Causes Act
	Third Reform Act
1885	Criminal Law Amendment Act
1888	Central National Society for Women’s Suffrage (remained NSWS) founded
1889	Women’s Franchise League founded
1892	Women’s Emancipation Union founded
1893	Women gain the vote in New Zealand
1893–1909	Women gain the vote in Australia
1894	Local Government Act enfranchises some women
1897	National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) founded
1903	Lancashire and Cheshire Women Textile and Other Workers, Representative Committee (LCWT) founded
	WSPU founded
	Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney arrested
	Liberal/Labour electoral agreement
1906	Women gain the vote in Finland
	Liberal landslide election victory
	The word ‘suffragette’ used for the first time
1907	‘Mud March’
	First Caxton Hall meeting
	Women gain the vote in Norway
	Women’s Freedom League founded
	Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage founded
	NUWSS adopt new constitution
	Millicent Fawcett becomes President of NUWSS
1908	WSPU members chain themselves to the railings of 10 Downing Street
	Men’s League for Opposing Women’s Suffrage founded
	Trojan horse raid
	Irish Women’s Franchise League founded
	Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League founded
	Conservative and Unionist Women’s Suffrage Association founded
	Window-smashing begins
	‘Rush’ on the House of Commons
	WFL members chain themselves to grille in House of Commons
1909	First hunger strike
	First forcible feeding
	Tax Resistance League founded
1910	General election
	Conciliation Committee founded
	First Conciliation Bill passes second reading
	Men’s Political Union founded
	Black Friday
	General election
	Prison to Citizenship procession
1911	Second Conciliation Bill passes second reading
	Constance Lytton imprisoned as a working-class woman
	Boycott of census
	Coronation procession
	First post-box destroyed
1912	NUWSS–Labour Party alliance established
	WSPU opposes Labour Party candidates
	Pethick-Lawrence resigns from the WSPU
	Third Conciliation Bill fails second reading
	Christabel Pankhurst flees to France
	George Lansbury resigns seat
	Election fighting fund established
1913	East London Federation of Suffragettes founded
	Lloyd George’s country home set on fire
	Emily Wilding Davison dies from injuries at the Derby
	NUWSS pilgrimage
	Amendment to manhood suffrage bill ruled out of order
	Cat and Mouse Act
	Asquith meets NUWSS deputation
1914	Sylvia Pankhurst resigns from the WSPU
	Velazquez’s painting attacked
	Group of women from London’s East End meet Asquith
	Militancy ceases when First World War declared
	Asquith meets ELFS deputation
	First World War begins
	WSPU abandons campaign for the vote
	Amnesty for suffragettes granted
	Women’s Volunteer Reserve (WVR) founded
1915	Asquith forms coalition government
	Right to Serve march
	National Register Bill
	Suffragettes of the Women’s Social and Political Union founded
1916	Independent Women’s Social and Political Union founded
	Speaker’s Conference
	Lloyd George replaces Asquith as Prime Minister
1917	Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACS) founded
	Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) founded
	Women’s Land Army founded
1918	Representation of the People Act gives votes to women over the age of 30
	Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAFS) founded
	End of War
	Constance Markiewicz elected to Parliament, but does not take up her seat
1919	Nancy Astor becomes the first woman MP to sit in Parliament
	Sex Disqualification Removal Act
	NUSEC formed
1922	Married Women’s Maintenance Act
	Infanticide Act
	Criminal Law Amendment Act
1923	Matrimonial Causes Act
1925	Guardianship of Infants Act
	Widows, Orphans and Old Age Pensioners’ Bill
1928	Equal Franchise Act
1929	Age of marriage raised to 16
1979	Margaret Thatcher becomes first female Prime Minister
1992	Betty Boothroyd becomes first female Speaker of the House of Commons