Much has been written about the men of Wakefield, but apart from a couple of well-documented individuals, the women of Wakefield have remained largely ignored.

Yet many women in this prosperous West Riding town worked hard to improve their lives and those of other women. Whether this was healthcare, housing, working conditions or providing refuge and training so that girls with no means of support could be made fit for employment, Wakefield’s women worked separately and together to achieve their mutual goals.

Some were active campaigners and lobbyists, others chose vocations that quietly improved the lives of the women around them.

Struggle and Suffrage in Wakefield uses historical newspaper articles, minutes of meetings, annual reports, first-hand stories and research into census returns to illustrate how women’s lives changed over a 100 year period and reveal some of those Wakefield women whose influence made things happen.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Chapter One Wakefield, an introduction
• Chapter Two Educating and Training Wakefield’s Girls
• Chapter Three The Working Lives of Wakefield’s Ordinary Women
• Chapter Four Wakefield’s Women in the Professions
• Chapter Five The Health and Well-being of the Women of Wakefield
• Chapter Six Wakefield’s Active Citizens
• Chapter Seven Women’s Progress in Wakefield
• Notes
• Appendix 1 Wakefield Prison Female Staff
• Appendix 2 Wartime Nurseries Staff
• Appendix 3 Wakefield’s Voluntary Aid Detachment
• Appendix 4 Babies Welcome Team on Mental and Child Welfare Subcommittee
• Appendix 5 Wakefield’s Healthcare Staff
• Bibliography
• Resources
• Plates Section