Biography of Lydia Becker

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Biography of Lydia Becker

Lydia Becker the daughter of Hannibal Becker and Mary Duncuft, was

born in 1827. The eldest of fifteen children, Lydia, like the rest of

her sisters, was educated at home. After the death of her mother in

1855, Lydia had the responsibility of looking after her younger

brothers and sisters

She took up interests in Botany and Astronomy, winning an award in

1864 for her collection of dried plants. Lydia was a keen writer and

was an active member of Manchester's Ladies Literacy Society.

It Starts…

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In 1886 her first book was published and she attended a local meeting

organised by the National Association for the promotion of Social

Science it was here, in Manchester, that she heard Barbara Bodichon

reading a paper 'Reasons for the enfranchisement of Women'.

“There was no reason why the single ladies and widows…” she heard,

“should not form as sensible opinions on the merits of candidates' as

male voters” She was immediately converted to the idea that women

should have the vote and wrote an article “Female Suffrage” for the

magazine, “The Contemporary Review”. Emily Davies and Elizabeth

Wolstenholme were two of the women who read the article and later that

year they joined with Lydia Becker to form the Manchester Women's

Suffrage Committee.

Becker continued to write articles about the need for parliamentary

reform and in 1870 she established the Women's Suffrage Journal.

Becker was also involved in other feminist campaigns. In 1868 she

became treasurer of the Married Women's Property Act and also joined

Josephine Butler in her campaign against the Contagious Diseases Acts.

The Campaigner

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Lydia now had a goal in life, in a more restrained way than the

radical suffragettes who came to the notice of the public in the early

20th Century.

In 1867 the name of Lily Maxwell appeared by accident on the electoral

roll in Manchester. Lily was a widow who ran her own small business

paying rates, and was just what Lydia was looking for a test case.

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