Annie Kenney (1879-1953)
Annie Kenney was born in Lees, near Oldham, in 1879. She was the fifth of eleven children, and her parents worked in the local mill. In her memoirs, Kenney hardly dwells on the memory of her father, but we get the impression that he was a kind and caring man and not predisposed to violence, unlike the fathers of Ellen Johnston and Lucy Luck. References to Kenney’s mother are prevalent in the first chapter, where the author describes her as ‘a wonderful woman’ (p.1), and relates how she encouraged in her children an interest in a diverse range of subjects and reading material: ‘whether it was dancing or the Athanasian Creed, Spiritualism, Haeckel, Walt Whitman, Blatchford, or Paine.’ (p.1). As a young girl, Kenney used to enjoy reading Robert Blatchford’s articles in the socialist newspaper The Clarion, and she claims the work of Voltaire, which she read in the Rational Review, inspired her. However, Kenney admits that she was not much academically inclined and speaks of being ‘a dunce at school’ (p.4), that she ‘could not retain anything’ (p.4) and that she would have rather played with dolls than study.
At the age of ten, Kenney started work at the mill, firstly as a half-timer (attending school for half the day) and then becoming a full-timer. When she was thirteen her life was to take a dramatic turn, when she heard Christabel Pankhurst give a talk on women’s suffrage at a meeting in Oldham. Although Kenney had never heard of Votes for Women she was enamoured by Pankhurst’s personality and zeal, and promised to organize a meeting of factory girls for her. This was the beginning of Kenney’s involvement with the militant suffragette movement, which was to span the next thirteen years. Kenney devoted her life to serving the women’s cause under Christabel’s leadership, and she became one of the main organizers and activists of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). In 1905, along with Christabel, Kenney disrupted a Liberal rally at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Kenney describes how they would repeatedly interrupt the speeches of Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey with the cry, ‘If you are elected, will you do your best to make women’s suffrage a government measure?’ (p.32). They were thrown out, arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer, and subsequently, imprisoned. This event is recognized as the beginning of militancy for the suffragettes, which increased in intensity over the years of struggle. For her involvement in militant activities, Kenney was imprisoned thirteen times, where she suffered the terrible ordeals of hunger strikes and force feeding.
In her role with the WSPU, Kenney travelled extensively, visiting Germany, America and Australia to give talks on women’s suffrage. She met many great Statesmen of the period, such as Lloyd George, Asquith and Churchill, and she allegedly befriended some of them. During the First World War, Kenney was instrumental in organizing women’s work in the munitions factories in England. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act finally gave women the vote. Shortly after, Kenney withdrew from political life. She married, and gave birth to a son in 1921. Her life with the militant suffragette movement is succinctly recorded in Memoirs of a Militant, which was first published in 1924. Kenney apparently suffered from long-term health problems, which were possibly a consequence of the hunger strikes she underwent in prison. She died in 1953.
At the age of ten, Kenney started work at the mill, firstly as a half-timer (attending school for half the day) and then becoming a full-timer. When she was thirteen her life was to take a dramatic turn, when she heard Christabel Pankhurst give a talk on women’s suffrage at a meeting in Oldham. Although Kenney had never heard of Votes for Women she was enamoured by Pankhurst’s personality and zeal, and promised to organize a meeting of factory girls for her. This was the beginning of Kenney’s involvement with the militant suffragette movement, which was to span the next thirteen years. Kenney devoted her life to serving the women’s cause under Christabel’s leadership, and she became one of the main organizers and activists of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). In 1905, along with Christabel, Kenney disrupted a Liberal rally at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Kenney describes how they would repeatedly interrupt the speeches of Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey with the cry, ‘If you are elected, will you do your best to make women’s suffrage a government measure?’ (p.32). They were thrown out, arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer, and subsequently, imprisoned. This event is recognized as the beginning of militancy for the suffragettes, which increased in intensity over the years of struggle. For her involvement in militant activities, Kenney was imprisoned thirteen times, where she suffered the terrible ordeals of hunger strikes and force feeding.
In her role with the WSPU, Kenney travelled extensively, visiting Germany, America and Australia to give talks on women’s suffrage. She met many great Statesmen of the period, such as Lloyd George, Asquith and Churchill, and she allegedly befriended some of them. During the First World War, Kenney was instrumental in organizing women’s work in the munitions factories in England. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act finally gave women the vote. Shortly after, Kenney withdrew from political life. She married, and gave birth to a son in 1921. Her life with the militant suffragette movement is succinctly recorded in Memoirs of a Militant, which was first published in 1924. Kenney apparently suffered from long-term health problems, which were possibly a consequence of the hunger strikes she underwent in prison. She died in 1953.
