More than Helpmates: The Role of Women in the Chartist Movement

Author: Matthew Flynn

Field of Study: Arts and Humanities

Program Affiliation: Source Project Research Program

Faculty Mentors: Will Glovinsky

Easel: 47

Timeslot: Afternoon

Abstract: Chartism––a working-class reform movement in Britain active from 1836 to 1858––has long been treated by historians a male-dominated movement, with only marginal roles for women activists. More recently, scholarship by Matthew Roberts and Malcolm Chase has complicated this picture, showing how, though the People’s Charter rejected calls for female suffrage, women organized and helped promote Chartist ideals. Joining with these scholars, this essay contends that women were important both to the debates over strategy and to the staffing of Chartist organizations although they faced opposition. Focusing on Mary Anne Walker, Susanna Inge, and others, this paper examines coverage of women Chartists in the Northern Star and other newspapers, letters, and other documents to demonstrate the impact of prominent Chartist women, female participation in the Chartist land plan and, especially, female Chartist organizations.