Suffragette Annie an inspiration to women

CAMPAIGNER: Annie Kenney

OLDHAM Council is planning to put statues of famous Oldhamers along Union Street. CHANTAL KITTO looks at another candidate to be cast in bronze for residents and visitors to admire.

ANNIE Kenney became an inspiration to many women across the world.

As part of the militant suffragette movement, Kenney became a leading figure in the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) for the rights of women.

Born in Springhead in 1879, she started work in a cotton mill at the age of 10, and was working full time three years later.

Kenney attracted the attention of the press and the public in 1905 during a liberal rally in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall on the issues of votes for women.

Kenney went on to become a leader and organiser of the WSPU, touring England and Wales speaking at rallies on women’s suffrage.

She was the only working-class woman to become part of the senior hierarchy of the WSPU, becoming deputy in 1912.

Limited voting rights were gained by women in Sweden, Britain, Finland and some Western US states in late 19th century.

Kenney took her message as far as France and America, changing the views of many along the way