Anne Frances Ashworth (1842 – 1921) was a 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 ...

Family

Ashworth grew up in 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 ...

family in

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

. Her father, Thomas Ashworth, was a friend of radical MP

Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radicals (UK), Radical and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician, manufacturing, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti–Corn Law L ...

. Her uncles Jacob Bright and

John Bright John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn La ...

were both liberal politicians with an interest in feminism and her aunts Margaret Bright Lucas and Priscilla Bright McLaren campaigned 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 ...

Activism

Together with her sister, Lilias Ashworth Hallett, Anne signed the 1866 petition for women's suffrage. Ashworth became a founder member of the London National Society for Women's Suffrage and, on the request of Clementia Taylor, Anne and Lilias formed a Bath branch of the group. She served on its executive committee, and when the Central Committee 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 ...

was set up in 1872, Anne also sat on its executive. In 1871, the first elections were held to the Bath School Board, and Ashworth was elected, one of only seven women around the country to win a seat at the initial elections. From 1873, she sat on the executive of the Married Women's Property Committee, and she also held membership of the

Edinburgh National Society for Women's Suffrage The Edinburgh National Society for Women's Suffrage was a leading group for women's rights in Scotland. It was one of the first three suffrage societies to be formed in Britain. History The Edinburgh Ladies' Emancipation Society was at one time t ...

and the Bristol and West of England Society. She did not address meetings, but supported the groups organisationally, financially, and by providing her home, Claverton Lodge, for speakers to rest after they had completed a tour.

Marriage and later life

Ashworth married Joseph Cross, brother of Liberal MP John Kynaston Cross, in 1877. They moved to Cross' house in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, and Ashworth joined the Manchester Society for Women's Suffrage, serving on its executive, remaining a vice-president of the group as late as 1907. Ashworth died in 1921.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashworth, Anne 1842 births 1921 deaths British feminists English Quakers British suffragists Activists from Bath, Somerset Quaker feminists