The 16th February 2018 marked 100 years since the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which allowed women to vote in parliamentary elections for the first time. This online exhibition reveals the names of the handful of women who were working in the ceramic and iron industries across the Gorge who gained the right to vote in 1918, as well as identifying the many who were denied this right.
6 February 2018 marked 100 years since the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which allowed women to vote in parliamentary elections for the first time.
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These are the names, ages and occupations of the 37 women working in the ceramic and iron industries across the Ironbridge Gorge, who gained the right to vote in 1918.
However, women could only vote if they were over the age of 30, and if they or their husband owned a certain amount of property. These strictures meant that more than 120 of their direct contemporaries were still denied the right to vote.
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Following the passing of the 1918 Act of Parliament approximately 40% of women in the UK gained the right to vote. These women were mainly older, wealthier, married women, and millions of younger, poorer women were still excluded, including all of these women who were known to be working in the ceramic and iron industries across the Ironbridge Gorge at the time.
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The passing of the Representation of the People Act in 1918 followed more than fifty years of campaigning by suffragists and suffragettes. The fight for the right to vote took place across Britain, including in Shropshire.
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Discover more about some of the women who worked in the ceramic and iron industries in the Gorge and gained the right to vote in 1918.
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