Agnes Brown (suffragist)
| Agnes Henderson Brown | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 April 1866 Edinburgh |
| Died |
1 December 1943 (aged 77) Edinburgh |
| Nationality | UK |
Agnes Henderson Brown (12 April 1866 – 1 December 1943) was a British suffragist and writer. She was one of the "Brown Women" who walked from Edinburgh to London in 1912.
Brown was born in Edinburgh in 1866 to William ("Durie") Brown (1858-1921) and his wife Jessie Wishart Henderson. The family lived at 125 Princes Street facing Edinburgh Castle. Her father was an activist for women's rights. His opposition to taxes that differentiated between genders caused him to end up in Calton Gaol. Her father ran a number if fruit shops under the title of William Brown & Sons but he trained his daughters, Agnes and Jessie, well and refused to submit to laws that he objected to.
Brown was an activist for the Women's Freedom League which was a suffrage organisation created in 1907 in reply to the Pankhursts autocracy. She volunteered to be one of the "Brown Women". The "Brown Women" were not named after her but after the brown coats that the walkers wore. It was Florence Gertrude de Fonblanque's idea and she, Brown and four others set off from Edinburgh in 1912 to walk to London. They had white scarfs and green hats and as they travelled they gathered signatures for a petition for women's rights. The hikers had to walk fifteen miles and attend a meeting each day and in this way they took five weeks to get to London. They followed the route of the A6 and they were joined by others along the way. On one day near Berwick they walked over 30 miles before being welcomed by the local member of parliament. Finally they got to London on 16 November where their horse and cart was sent back to Scotland. They went by tube to Trafalgar Square where the walkers entered to music.Rosalie Gardiner Jones was a supporter of the “Pankhursts,”. She organised walks in America that were similar to the "Brown Wowem" walks. One of Jones Suffrage Hikes include the hike to Albany, New York in December 1912.
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