Influencer; Or Influenced? A Contemporary of the Pankhursts

One of my most favourite ancestors, discovered in my research, is Miss Florence Nicholson Edgill; the older sister of my maternal great grandfather. 

Florence was born in 1867. It's not super clear who her natural father was, or if she was born legitimately, but the father on record at her baptism was William Nicholson Edgill; clerk to the Guardians of the Chorlton Poor Union and superintendent registrar for Chorlton (a part of Manchester.) The mother listed at that baptism was Hannah Edgill (nee Standring.) (I shall probably explain the conundrum of Florence, my great grandfather, and their younger siblings' parentage in another blog post; it's complicated!)

Florence never married. At the time of her father's death it was Florence who represented the family after his assing, by writing to the Chorlton Board of Guardians. 

From the Manchester Courier & Lancaster General Advisor,
dated Saturday, April 11th, 1891

We learn a lot about Florence's life through newspaper clippings. The next time she is mentioned it is in The Guardian, on September 11th, 1908, where she is cited as having been the first woman to be elected to a position on the Council of the Association where she was to take the role of Organising Secretary for the Stretford Higher Education Authority. At a time when women couldn't vote, I imagine winning an election for a public position was quite the feat, however perhaps not in Chorlton.

The Guardian, September 11th, 1908

It was in Chorlton that the Pankhurst family lived, and worked. Emmeline Pankhurst was elected to the position of Poor Law Guardian in Chorlton-on-Medlock in 1894, just 3 years after Florence's father, clerk to the Guardians, had passed, while still in office. After her husband, Richard Pankhurst's, death in the summer of 1898, Emmeline was left in debt. In an effort to improve their circumstances Emmeline gave up her position as Guardian, and took a paid position as registrar; another position that Florence's father had held before his death. Emmeline also at this time, moved her family into a less expensive home at 62 Nelson Street, which was next door to the nursing home where Florence eventually passed away, in 1918.

60-62 Nelson Street was the birthplace of the Suffragette movement in the UK.
It is now home to The Pankhurst Centre, a museum celebrating the lives of Emmeline Pankhurst, her children, and the movement that led to women winning the right to vote.

In 1900 Emmeline was elected to the Manchester School Board, and it was her work here that showed her how poor the educational opportunities open to women were. By 1902 eight evening Institutions for Women and Girls had been established, focusing on continuing education for the female population of Manchester. It was in 1908 that Florence was hired to her position as Organising Secretary for the Stretford Higher Education Authority. It seems to me that it is more than likely that Florence knew the Pankhurst family; they moved in very similar circles and in a relatively small community. I like to imagine that Florence was more than on the Pankhurst periphery, but that she was an active founding member of the Women's Social and Political Union. I am, admittedly, rather fanciful; I agree that history may not consent with my imagination!

Another tidbit we find about Florence, from newspaper clippings of the time, is this announcement printed in The Guardian, on September 27th, 1913.

It was at this meeting that we learn about Florence's politics and see how she might have been somewhat of an influencer herself. Shortly after the meeting we see a write up about the event, published in The Guardian (October 3rd, 1913).

I love that in this speech Florence started out by saying that educators should "inculcate a love of home in all our young people". Young PEOPLE! Not girls, women, or ladies, but gender non-specific PEOPLE! She then went on to label those who considered domestic work degrading as not just snobbish, but having "snobbishness in its most acute form". She continued by further berating anyone with such an opinion and calling them indecent. This suggests that Florence leaned towards socialism and understood the difficulties with a classist society. 

I imagine that there were probably only a few women in this meeting, and perhaps many of the men, at the start of her speech, might have sniggered a little. I'm sure with these words she quickly put them in their place, and held their attention for her next blow; suggesting that the men in charge (ie the ones in the audience) were incapable of understanding the need for domestic education. If she didn't have their attention before, she did now! She finished her speech by making good her point that the teaching of home-making was valuable and that the school board should be supporting such an endeavour.

At a time, and place, where women were making their voices heard, sometimes by force, it was quite feat for Florence to take such a stand and speak loudly about the right of all women, including those of the working class, to an education. 

Stretford Higher Education Committee held many classes where domestic skills, and economy were taught, as well as other skills. Exhibitions of students work were held on an annual basis.

Sadly, Florence Edgill was not to be blessed with a life long enough to influence much further. She died in 1918, just a few months after women were granted the right to vote, following the passing of the Representation of the People Act of 1918. She was just 50 years old. Her death certificate suggests that she had kidney stones which a surgeon attempted to remove, and following the surgery she contracted an infection which ultimately caused her death.

I don't have any pictures of Florence, but I can clearly picture her character. Many living members of my family share similar traits. A strong character, with a vigorous sense of duty to the community, to those who are less fortunate, and to social and educational service.

Manchester has been a centre for social change over the years, and the time that Florence Edgill lived and worked for the Stretford Higher Education Committee was a time of great social change, both for the rights of workers, and general improvements in living conditions for working people, but also for women and their ability to vote, and take more space in the work place. It's possible that Florence was just a product of her time and place; influenced by the socialists and liberalists around her. But I like to think that she had a hand in some of the influencing of the time; influencing young women to take domestic sciences classes, and learn how to better economise in the home, and perhaps influencing some men, helping them learn the importance of understanding the role that women can play both in the home, and in the workplace.

#Edgill