Lavena Saltonstall

Lavena Saltonstall (1881– September 1957) was an English suffragette and writer.

Life
Lavena Saltonstall was born in September 1881 in Rawholme, just outside Hebden Bridge to Mary and John Saltonstall, a fustian dyer. When she was around 10 years old, she left school to work half-time in the local clothing factories.

When she around 23 years old, she moved to Halifax to become a weaver after finding the small-town of Hebden Bridge restricting. While living in Halifax, Saltonstall became involved with the Women's Labour League and the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and suffragette Laura Annie Willson.

In March 1907, she travelled to Westminster and was arrested and imprisoned for 14 days. During 1907 and 1908, Saltonstall invited the founder of the WSPU, Emmeline Pankhurst to give speeches locally. In February 1908, Saltonstall was again arrested in London after refusing to be bound over to keep the peace for 12 months and was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment.

From 1908, she started to distance herself away from the WSPU and instead focusing more on the working class and Labour movements. She turned to the Women's Education Association (WEA) to catch up on the education she missed due to leaving education at a young age. At the WEA, she studied economics and later wrote a WEA corner column for the Halifax Guardian.

In 1917, Saltonstall married a soldier, George Baker at the Unitarian Chapel, Halifax and moved with him to Bradford, where she died in September 1957.

Legacy
A blue plaque is displayed in the window of the house on Unity Street, Hebden Bridge where Saltonstall used to live.