Alice Hawkins: 1863 - 1946

Born in 1863, Alice lived most of her life in Leicester. A mother of six and shoe machinist by trade, Alice was determined to have an equal say in the democracy of the day.

Alice attended her first meeting of the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1907, followed by a march the same day to the House of Commons to demand the vote for women. That afternoon, Alice was arrested and imprisoned. In the following seven years, she was to be arrested and jailed a total of five times.

Alice continued to support the local trade union and the labour movement up to the time of her death in 1946, at the age of 83.