Event    From 2/7/1888  To 16/7/1888

Matchgirls' strike

A strike of the women and teenage girls working at the Bryant and May Factory. Annie Besant had published an article about the poor working conditions at the factory, 'White Slavery in London'. This angered the management who tried to get the workers to formally refute the article. When they refused the management sacked one of them and the strike was on. They held meetings at Christ Church Hall and were supported by Eleanor Marx, Annie Besant and members of the Fabian Society including Shaw and Sidney Webb.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Matchgirls' strike

Commemorated ati

Annie Besant - E3

This plaque was lost sometime July 2021 - August 2022. 

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Bowler plaque - Match Girls

The plaque punningly represents "match girls" - very nice. Hanbury Hall is wh...

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Fairfield Works

Fairfield Works Fairfield Road. The scene of the match girls strike of 1888. ...

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Hanbury Hall - blue oval plaque

This plaque has a shortened version of the text on the old white plaque.

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Hanbury Hall - white plaque - removed

Christ Church Hall Built in 1719 as a French Hugeonot {sic} church it stood b...

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Other Subjects

Nessie Stewart-Brown

Nessie Stewart-Brown

Suffragist and Liberal Party politician. Co-founder of Liverpool Women’s Suffrage Society, and led Women’s Liberal Federation branches in Liverpool. Born as Nessie Muspratt near Liverpool. 1888 Mar...

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Barbara Harmer

Barbara Harmer

The first qualified female supersonic pilot and the first to fly Concorde. Born at the house with the plaque, she was raised in Bognor Regis and left school aged 15 to become a hairdresser but the...

Person, Gender Issues, Transport

1 memorial
Daisy Parsons

Daisy Parsons

Marguerite "Daisy" Parsons was born in Poplar as Marguerite Lena Millo. When she was young her parents moved to Canning Town, part of West Ham. Working in a factory showed her how men and women wer...

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Julia Scurr

Julia Scurr

Born Julia Sullivan in Limehouse, married John Scurr in 1900. Politically active, campaigning for working women, the unemployed, women's suffrage. 1919 elected to Poplar Borough Council and was imp...

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration

2 memorials
Brixton Black Women's Group

Brixton Black Women's Group

Started by Olive Morris and other women who had been active in the Black Panther Movement. It was formed to address the specific issues faced by black women, and to offer advice and support to thos...

Group, Community / Clubs, Gender Issues, Race Issues

2 memorials