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Manchester's Victoria Station
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Our father who art a liberal |
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Grudge and grave
For Emily and their two eldest daughters, convinced that he had been ‘cheated’ of victory, they would never again ally themselves to one political party or organization for any length of time. At least, in the case of Emily and Christabel, not unless they controlled it.
Richard’s humiliation encouraged the family to move to London and start over. Here they made a number of alliances with other radicals, and although the family would eventually return to Manchester it was precisely this enforced sabbatical that widened Emily's sphere of influence, introducing her to leading radicals and thinkers of that time.
In June of 1898, while Emily was away visiting Christabel who was living in Geneva, Richard returned home from the office and took gravely ill. A stomach ulcer that caused him much pain throughout his later years had now perforated his stomach. A telegram was dispatched to his wife, but despite the best efforts of the doctor and his daughter Sylvia, he died less than 48 hours later. He was 64.
Emily, on receiving the telegram, returned to London to catch a connecting train to Manchester. She received the abrupt news of her husband’s death on glimpsing the front-page headline of a fellow passenger’s newspaper.
Richard Pankhurst’s funeral took place on the 16th July 1898. His coffin, borne upon an open carriage and attended by the cycling club to which he belonged, was decorated with swathes of red carnations. Thousands walked the route to the cemetery where his body was lowered into the grave without a ceremony of service of any kind, in keeping with his agnosticism.
As for his family, none today remain untouched by their actions. Emily picked up where her husband was thwarted, developing a militant approach when more polite avenues of entreaty failed. A feminist revolution was underway. Christabel proved to be her right hand, the first woman jailed for the cause. Yet despite her mother and sister’s commendable role in history, it is Sylvia who perhaps most embodied her father’s beliefs, cultivating them to greater fruition than he could have dreamed.
Words: Bren O'Callaghan
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