I had intended to include this monument in my discussions of Brompton Cemetery, but neglected to do so. It marks the grave of Emmeline Pankhurst, a famous suffragette. People still place flowers on her grave.
Emmeline, her daughters and compatriots were imprisoned and force fed when they went on a hunger strike. Their methods were controversial and reportedly even included arson. However, these
women warriors suspended their protests during World War I to support the British government in its fight against Germany.
Finally, in 1918, the U.K. extended the right to vote to women over 30, although men could vote at 21. The disparity in age was to make sure that men voters did not become a minority because so many males had died in WWI.
Emmeline died just weeks before the U.K. Parliament extended the vote to all women over 21 in 1928. (The U.S. granted women suffrage in 1920.) Here she is in a 1913 photo:
Another famous "resident" of Brompton Cemetery is John Snow, whose research in the 19th Century demonstrated that polluted water caused cholera. Although it took many years for his discovery to be fully accepted, once acknowledged, it saved countless lives.
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