Project ID: 728
| Description | An account of Rosa May Billinghurst, a remarkable woman who would not be defined by her disability or let it hinder her support of the Suffragette’s cause. Billinghurst was born and raised in Lewisham and was paralysed from the waist down following a childhood illness. As a result, she had to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. As a young adult her voluntary work at the Greenwich and Deptford Union Workhouse exposed her to the living conditions endured by the poor. This led to Billinghurst’s interest in politics. Inspired by Christabel Pankhurst, Billinghurst joined the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in October 1907, becoming secretary of the Greenwich branch in July 1910. |
| Topics | Social history |
| Type | U3A-led research (not an SLP) |
| U3A | Bexley U3A |
| Year started | 2017 |
| Source of reference | Citizens 800 website, see below |
| Notes | This is one of number of SLPs linked to the Citizens project at Royal Holloway College - see file card 547 for details See www.citizens800.org/U3A for more information |