To understand the social background to the lives and living conditions of people in Oldham and surrounding district there is a wealth of written material to study. Some of these experiences influenced people who lived in George Street or became Independent Methodists. On-line publications enable many out of print books to be easily accessed.My Own Story is the autobiography by Emmeline Pankhurst.
In it she describes the background to her campaign to get votes for women. She has vivid descriptions about how the poor lived and the social conditions experienced by many people. It is hard to believe that women only received the right to vote in elections in 1918 through the Representation of the people Act, but even then it was only granted to women over the age of 30.
Emmeline Pankhurst (born Emmeline Goulden) (15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote. In 1999 Time named Pankhurst as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating: "she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back." She was widely criticized for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognized as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in Britain.
Born Emmeline Goulden and raised in Moss Side, Manchester by politically active parents, Pankhurst was introduced at the age of 8 to the women's suffrage movement.
In 1987 one of her homes in Manchester was opened as the Pankhurst Centre, an all-women gathering space and museum.
