Charlotte Despard

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Charlotte Despard (1884 – 1939) was a British suffragette who was born in Ripple, Kent. Despard was shocked by the levels of poverty in London where she lived as a child. She dedicated her life to helping the poor and was elected as a Poor Law Guardian .

Despard joined the NUWSS (National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies) in 1906, but frustrated with the lack of progress the organisation was making she joined the more radical WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union). Eventually, Despard was one of three women who formed the Womens Freedom League after disagreements over the autocratic way in which the WSPU was run. She was joined by Teresa Billington-Greig and Edith How-Martyn.

Despard spend a lot of time in Ireland where her father was born, and here she formed the Irish Women’s Franchise League.