Exhibition: Womens Suffrage in Leicestershire

Why did Leicester-born Lilian Lenton promise to burn down two buildings a week? What persuaded nine women to hunger strike in Leicester Prison in 1909 and what was their quarrel with Winston Churchill?  Why were Alice Hawkins a leading suffragette in Leicester, and Charles Garratt, a boot boy, both arrested in 1913 for pouring ink into post boxes in Leicester?

The answers to these questions are all to be found in an exhibition at the  Central-Lending Library in Leicester, England, which tells of the struggle of local women (and men) to secure votes for women.

The exhibition which celebrates the centenary of the formation of Leicester’s branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1907 includes new evidence supplied by some of the descendants of those involved.

The exhibition which has been put together by the  Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland will be on display at the Library from 1st August until 17th August. Admission is free. Map