Pankhurst, Emmeline (1858–1928), Christabel (1880–1958), and Sylvia (1882–1960)

The Pankhurst women, suffragettes and social reformers, are the most important feminist family in British history. Emmeline Goulden, the spirited eldest daughter of a cotton manufacturer, was born in Manchester, England, where she met and married Richard Marsden Pankhurst, a well‐known radical barrister. Their three daughters – Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst, and Adela Constantia Mary Pankhurst (1885–1961) – were brought up in a household where their parents supported advanced causes of the day, especially women's suffrage and socialism. From an early age, the girls were taken to political meetings and encouraged to work for the good of the people.