User:JeffUK/Harriette Beanland

Harriette Beanland was a British textile worker and Suffragette.

Biography
Originally from Nelson in Lancashire, Harriette Mary Beanland worked as a textile worker. She was a member of the British Independent Labor Party (ILP). Appointed Poor Law Guardian for the City of Nelson, she worked to enforce the Poor Laws which related to the provision of financial assistance to the poorest in England and the rest of the United Kingdom between the 16th and 19th centuries.

In 1906, Beanland signed the manifesto of the Independent Labor Party in favor of women's suffrage. She joined the Nelson & Clitheroe Suffrage Society alongside Mary Atkinson and Margaret Aldersley, as well as the National Industrial and Professional Women's Suffrage Society.

In 1913, Beanland, became secretary of the branch of the Women's Labour League in Nelson for a year until its dissolution.

From 1914 and the start of the First World War, some suffragettes of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) left the movement in disagreement with the support shown for the fighting. A week after the start of the war, Beanland sent a furious letter to the Nelson Leader denouncing: ''“[It gives] the erroneous impression that countries are at war with each other. They are not. Their governments, composed of men and responsible only to the men of each country and backed by the majority of men who have caught the war and glory fever, have declared war on one another. The women of all these countries have not been consulted as to whether they would have war or not… If they (men) deliberately shut out women, the peace loving sex, from their rightfull share in ruling their countries and Churches, then all the appeals and sentiments and prayers will be of avail in preventing hostilities. Yours, etc…. HM Beanland ” .

Related Articles

 * Women's suffrage
 * Suffragette
 * List of suffragists and suffragettes
 * Feminism in the United Kingdom

Notes and References
Category:British suffragists Category:People from Nelson, Lancashire