Electrical engineer and suffragist. Born Phoebe Sarah Marks in Portsmouth. Aged 16 began teaching in London. Studied maths at Girton College Cambridge. Married William Ayrton in 1885. Elected a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1899 and was the only woman member until 1958 (shame on them). In 1902 she was proposed for the Royal Society but this was blocked because a married woman had no standing in law and so was ineligible. Not surprisingly Hertha supported the militant suffragists and marched in all the suffrage protests, in academic gown, which, of course, she was not entitled to wear. Mrs Pankhurst and other hunger strikers were nursed in her home and Hertha declared herself "proud" when her daughter Barbara was imprisoned. Barbara went on to become an MP and to produce Michael Ayrton, the artist. Hertha died in Sussex.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Hertha Ayrton
Commemorated ati
Hertha Ayrton
Hertha Ayrton, 1854 - 1923, physicist, lived here, 1903 - 1923. English Herit...
Other Subjects
Mark Ashton
Irish political, community and gay rights activist. Born Oldham but grew up in Northern Ireland. With his friend Mike Jackson he formed and raised funds for the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners...
Person, Community / Clubs, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration, Social Welfare, Ireland
Ellen Wilkinson
NUWSS in Manchester, Labour MP for Jarrow. As Jarrow MP she played a prominent role in the 1936 Jarrow March. Minister of Education from July 1945 until her death. Born Manchester. Had a close per...
First gay rights demonstration
The first gay rights demonstration in Britain took place in Highbury Fields when about 150 members of the Gay Liberation Front held a torchlight rally against police harassment. Louis Eakes of the ...
Agnes Pochin
First woman to speak about women’s suffrage on a public platform. An early campaigner for women's rights. She funded campaigns, wrote one of the first tracts and was one of the three speakers at t...
Annot Robinson
Suffragette and pacifist. Born as Annot Erskine Wilkie in Scotland. Nicknamed Annie. Trained and worked as a teacher. She was sentenced to six months for trying to break in to the House of Commons....