Alice Abadam (1856-1940), my great-great-aunt, was a feminist and suffragist who spoke in public about her cause. She was the daughter of Edward Abadam of Middleton Hall, Carmarthenshire, south Wales. She joined the Central Society for Women’s Suffrage in 1905, but moved away from the militant Suffragist movement in 1907. She joined the Women’s Freedom League in 1907 and founded the Feminist League in 1920.
Headed notepaper used by Alice Abadam for the Feminist League
Alice was a talented artist. Here are some of her paintings and sketches. Her ‘Bicycle tour with a Suffrage Caravan through the North’ took place in August 1908.
Nancy Jennings
Llanarthey Churchyard, Carmarthenshire, with the Abadam Family Vault on the rightDurham CathedralOpponent (left) and supporter (right) of women’s rightsA warning from the police: “Yes, ye’re free to hold yerr meeting. But, …. the last lady who spoke in Carlisle was Mary Queen of Scots, and then she went south and was beheaded!”Educating our mastersSketch of Alice Abadam’s fellow suffragists on a “Suffrage Tour through the North”, including E. Gardner, Margaret Robinson BA, Helen Fraser, Miss Davies, Miss Marruels (?), Miss Thompson, and A. A.“Ye didn’t know it, but we organised a bodyguard of 10 in case of roughs. We heard them threatening.”Poster advertising talks by Alice Abadam in 1923
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