Kate Zilpah Manicom (11 March 1893 – 27 October 1937) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

and

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

Life

Manicom was born on 11 March 1893 in the St Pancras area of London, Manicom attended Southfields Girls' School. From 1911, she was active in the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

movement. She was associated with

Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (; 5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was an English Feminism, feminist and Socialism, socialist activist and writer. Following encounters with women-led labour activism in the United States, she worked to organise worki ...

, and worked with the East London Federation of Suffragettes. She also joined the Labour Party and the

Workers' Union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, for which she worked as an organiser from 1917. In this position, she recruited women workers across the country and played a key role in the strike of Pearl Assurance workers. The

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) was an act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The act extended the franchise in pa ...

only enfranchised women over thirty, and Manicom was a leading campaigner to extend the franchise to women on the same basis as it applied to men. When the Workers' Union became part of the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...

(TGWU), she became a London District Organiser. She also served on the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

Women's Advisory Committee and the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organisations.

, "Obituary: Kate Manicom", ''Report of Proceedings at the 70th Annual Trades Union Congress'', p.246 She also attended the 1921 International Congress of Working Women, and was a delegate to the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

. From 1924, Manicom worked as a postal clerk, although she remained active in the trade union movement. She died on 27 October 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manicom, Kate 1893 births 1937 deaths English suffragists English trade unionists People from St Pancras, London English women trade unionists