Heritage, History & Her

How a government blunder meant women voted in 1868

Victorian photograph of Lily Maxwell sat down. The first women voter in 1867,

Most people know 1918 as the first time some women voted in the UK, but women successfully voted in the 1869 election. The suffragists of Manchester led a huge campaign after spotting that the wording of the 1868 Reform Bill was wrong. The wording accidentally enfranchised women who met its other criteria, leading to thousands of women voting.

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