Votes, Wages and Milk: The East London Federation of Suffragettes

In October 1912 Sylvia Pankhurst climbed onto a wooden platform outside an old baker’s shop on Bow Road, and painted the words ‘VOTES FOR WOMEN’ in golden letters above the door. What began as a simple recruitment drive for the Women’s Social and Political Union soon sparked a rebellion in the suffragette ranks, and launched a mass movement for equality with Roman Road market at its heart. Get to know these forgotten East End rebels, who always said that votes for women were just the beginning.

Sarah Jackson is the author of Voices From History: East London Suffragettes with Rosemary Taylor, and organised the East London Suffragette Festival in 2014.