Alice Cliff Scatcherd (7 November 1842 – 24 December 1906) was an early British

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

who in 1889 founded the

Women's Franchise League The Women's Franchise League was a British organisation created by the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst together with her husband Richard and others in 1889, fourteen years before the creation of the Women's Social and Political Union in 1903. The P ...

,Holton, Stanley (2002), ''Suffrage Days: Stories from the Women's Suffrage Movement'', Routledge, with Harriet McIlquham, Ursula Bright,

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst (; Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win in 1918 the women's suffrage, right to vote in United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, Richard Pankhurst and Elizabeth Clarke Wolstenholme Elmy. She was a lifelong campaigner for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

in the

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

area.

Early life and education

Alice Cliff was born in Wortley, the seventh of fourteen children of the wealthy industrialist Joseph Cliff and his wife Alice Dewhirst. She grew up at Western Flatts House, now Cliff House, and although the family were Unitarians, attended The Mount School in York, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

school.Pemberton Joss, Vine
"Alice Elizabeth Cliff Scatcherd 1842 - 1906"
The Vote Before the Vote: Leeds Women and the 19th Century March Towards the Vote, retrieved 16 June 2023.

Suffragist career

Scatcherd joined the Leeds Ladies’ Educational Association in 1872 and then the newly formed Leeds branch of the

National Society for Women's Suffrage The National Society for Women's Suffrage Manchester Branch The National Society for Women's Suffrage was the first national group in the United Kingdom to campaign for women's right to vote. Officially formed on 6 November 1867, by Lydia Becker ...

(NSWS),where she became a committee member. She was a frequent speaker at events in the 1870s, for example on 24 March 1877, when she appeared in

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

alongside

Lydia Becker Lydia Ernestine Becker (24 February 1827 – 18 July 1890) was a leader in the early British suffrage movement, as well as an amateur scientist with interests in biology and astronomy. She established Manchester as a centre for the suffrage mov ...

and other early suffragettes to discuss women's access to the vote. Scatcherd was supported by

Henry Birchenough Sir John Henry Birchenough, 1st Baronet, (7 March 1853 – 12 May 1937) was an English businessman and public servant. Early life and education Birchenough was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, the second son of John Birchenough, a silk manufa ...

in seconding the first resolution which was moved by Joshua Oldfield Nicholson. Scatcherd sought to widen the scope of the suffrage movement to include reforms to divorce, child custody, and other legal matters affecting women. With her husband, she founded the Morley & District Nursing Association, and she taught adult education classes for women. The Alice Cliff Scatcherd scrapbook comprises letters, photographs and letterpress relating to the national suffrage campaign, politics, education and Morley civic life and is held at Leeds Central Library. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

to commemorate Scatcherd was unveiled on 2 August 2022 at her former home, Park House, Queen Street, Morley (now a funeral directors'). It carries the words "This champion of women's education, trade unionism and suffrage, who established the Morley District Nurses Association, lived here. She was a founder member of the Women's Franchise League, established in 1889. As a philanthropist, she donated Scatcherd Park to the people of Morley. 1842 - 1906".

Personal life and death

On 3 October 1871, Alice Cliff married Oliver Scatcherd,Ancestry.com. ''West Yorkshire, Non-Conformist Records, 1646-1985'' atabase on-line Lehi, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

who was the youngest son of Norrison Cavendish Scatcherd. Her

marriage vows Marriage vows are promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding ceremony based upon Western Christian norms. They are not universal to marriage and not necessary in most legal jurisdictions. They are not even universa ...

did not include the promise to obey her husband, and she later refused to attend weddings in established churches where women took that vow. She also followed Quaker custom by not wearing a

wedding ring A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage. In western culture, a ...

, which reportedly shocked people when she travelled in Europe with her husband. Scatcherd's husband served as Mayor of Morley in 1898–1900, and died in 1905. She died the following year at Morley Hall after a long illness, and is buried in the Scatcherd Mausoleum in the churchyard of St Mary's in the Wood in Morley.

References

External links

Scatcherd Mausoleum

Scatcherd Collection
Morley Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Scatcherd, Alice Cliff English suffragists People from Morley, West Yorkshire 1842 births 1906 deaths