Bluestocking Oxford

By Rebecca O’Brien

I have collected together some important dates to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act which gave British women (over 30 with property qualifications) the ability to vote.

January

16^th 2006 Liberian Ellen Johnson Sirleaf becomes the first elected female head of state in Africa

21^st 2017 Millions around the world join the Women’s March to support human and women’s rights

February

6^th International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

6^th 1918 Representation of the People Act- British women over 30 with property qualifications secure the vote

11^th International Day of Women and Girls in Science

25^th 1986 Corazon Aquino becomes the first female president in Asia after toppling 21years of authoritarian rule in the Phillipines

March

3^rd 1941 Una Marson becomes the first black woman to be employed by the BBC

8^th International Women’s Day

April

27^th 2015 Loretta Lynch becomes the first African American Woman Attorney General of the US

29^th 1968 Sislin Fay Allen becomes the first non-white woman police constable in the UK

30^th 60^th Anniversary of the Life Peerages Act 1958 which allowed women to sit in the British House of Lords

May

3^rd 1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes UK’s first female prime minister

5^th 1930 Amy Johnson departs on her 19days solo flight from England to Australia, the first woman to do so

12^th 2003 Baroness Valerie Amos becomes the first black woman to sit in the British Cabinet

29^th The Equal Pay Act, the first piece of UK legislation to enshrine the right to pay equality between women and men is passed

June

4^th 1913 Emily Wilding Davison is hit by King George V’s horse at the Epsom Derby, she passes away four days later

7^th 1866 John Stewart Mill presents the first petition on women’s suffrage to the UK parliament

11^th 1847 Millicent Fawcett’s birthday

21^st 1908 Women’s Sunday: 250,000 people gather in Hyde Park, London, to support women’s suffrage

27^th 1969 Stonewall Riots Anniversary

July

2^nd 1928 The Equal Franchise Act secures voting rights for British Women over 21, on the same terms as men

14^th 1858 Emmeline Pankhurst’s birthday

26^th 1913 The Women’s Suffrage Pilgrimage ends with a mass rally of 50,000 in Hyde Park, London

August

6^th 1926 Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel

20^th 1976 Start of nearly two-year strike by Jayaben Desai and largely South Asian workforce at the Grunwick Factory in London

September

12^th 1992 American astronaut Mae Jemison starts her space mission, becoming the first woman of colour in space

15^th 1888 Clementina Black moves the first UK Trades Union Congress equal pay resolution

19^th 1893 New Zealand becomes the first self-governing country in the world in which all woman have the right to vote in parliamentary elections

October

11^th International Day of the Girl Child

16^th 1869 The first British institution for women’s higher education, Girton College Cambridge, is founded by Emily Davies

21^st 60^th anniversary of women sitting in the British House of Lord for the first time

27^th 1967 Abortion Act gives women in the UK, excluding Northern Ireland, abortion rights with certain conditions

November

12^th 1975 Sex Discrimination Act passed to protect men and women from discrimination on the grounds of sex or marital status

18^th 1910 ‘Black Friday’ suffragette led protest. Many protesters were met with police violence

20^th Transgender Day of Remembrance

21^st 100^th Anniversary of the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 allowing women to stand for election in the House of Commons

25^th International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

December

1^st 1919 Nancy Astor elected in by-election as MP for Plymouth Sutton, becomes first woman to take her seat in Parliament

4^th 1961 Contraceptive pill becomes available on the NHS in the UK

10^th 1948 United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
14^th 1918 First general election in which women can vote and stand as candidates. Constance Markievicz elected for Sinn Fein but refuses seat

 

 

 

References:

http://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/key-dates-lesbian-gay-bi-and-trans-equalityhttps://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/our-history

 

 

Photo Credits:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Johnson_Sirleaf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corazon_Aquino

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Lynch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Johnson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmeline_Pankhurst

https://turbulentlondon.com/2017/03/16/turbulent-londoners-jayaben-desai-1933-2010/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Jemison

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(1910)

http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/case-study-the-right-to-vote/the-right-to-vote/birmingham-and-the-equal-franchise/1918-representation-of-the-people-act/