Kenney memorial bid by councillor

SUFFRAGETTE Annie Kenney

MEMORIALS could be erected to suffragette Annie Kenney and the victims of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre.

Councillor Elaine Garry is to ask Oldham Council to look at ways to pay for memorials to mark the role women have played in fighting for equality and fairness.

She is scheduled to present the motion — seconded by Councillor Jim McMahon — at tonight’s full council meeting.

Born in Springhead in 1879, Annie Kenney started working in a cotton mill when she was 10, and went on to become a leading figure in the Women’s Social and Political Union. She became an inspiration to women across the world.

Fifteen people were killed and hundreds were injured in August 1819, when cavalry charged into the thousands-strong crowd at a rally at St Peter’s Field, Manchester, to demand reform of parliamentary representation.

Six of the dead were thought to be from Oldham, and four of the dead were women.

Councillor Garry would like the memorial to those who died and were injured to be erected at the Civic Centre - close to where the Oldham contingent gathered before marching to Manchester.

The town centre is also suggested for Annie Kenney’s memorial.