Millicent Fawcett

Dame Millicent Fawcett
GBE
Fawcett, c. 1873
Born
Millicent Garrett

(1847-06-11)11 June 1847
Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England
Died5 August 1929(1929-08-05) (aged 82)
Bloomsbury, London, England
MonumentsStatue of Millicent Fawcett
Occupation(s)Suffragist, union leader
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1867; died 1884)​
ChildrenPhilippa Fawcett
Parent(s)Newson Garrett
Louisa Dunnell
RelativesElizabeth Garrett Anderson, Agnes Garrett (sisters)
Louisa Garrett Anderson (niece)

Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett GBE (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English political activist and writer. She campaigned for women's suffrage by legal change and in 1897–1919 led Britain's largest women's rights association, the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS),[1] explaining, "I cannot say I became a suffragist. I always was one, from the time I was old enough to think at all about the principles of Representative Government."[2] She tried to broaden women's chances of higher education, as a governor of Bedford College, London (now Royal Holloway) and co-founding Newnham College, Cambridge in 1875.[3] In 2018, a century after the Representation of the People Act, she was the first woman honoured by a statue in Parliament Square.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ Maya Oppenheim (11 June 2018). "Millicent Fawcett: Who was the tireless suffragist and how did she change women's voting rights forever?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022.
  2. ^ Lyons, Izzy (5 February 2018). "How Millicent Fawcett and Ethel Smyth helped women win the vote". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  3. ^ Howarth, Janet. "Fawcett, Dame Millicent Garrett [née Millicent Garrett] (1847–1929)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33096. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Millicent Fawcett: Courage calls to courage everywhere". politics.co.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Millicent Fawcett statue gets Parliament Square go ahead". BBC News Online. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  6. ^ Katz, Brigit (4 April 2017). "London's Parliament Square Will Get Its First Statue". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 4 April 2017.