Survivor's Petition 1890

In 1890 a ‘Survivors' Petition' signed by 78 of the original signatories from 1866, including Barbara Bodichon and Elizabeth Garrett (now Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson), was presented to the House of Commons by railway entrepreneur and women's suffrage supporter Edward Watkin MP. The ‘Survivors' Petition' stressed that the situation had not changed for women since 1866, even though the franchise had been widened for men by the reform Acts of 1867 and 1884. It was one of more than 16,000 petitions presented to the House of Commons and House of Lords asking for votes for women between 1866 and 1918.

In 1897 various organisations came together to form the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett, the NUWSS undertook peaceful campaigning such as petitioning, lobbying and marching. From late 1905 this ‘suffragist'  activity ran alongside militant ‘suffragette' campaigning by organisations including the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), led by Emmeline Pankhurst and others.