Mrs Leonora Cohen

Other sources: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4769024
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-leeds-42963112/leonora-cohen-the-story-of-the-leeds-suffragette
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866?1928 (1999); Anna Raeburn, The Militant Suffragettes (1973)

Family information: Father a sculptor. She married Henry Cohen in 1898. They had one son.

Additional Information: Leonora joined the Leeds branch of the WSPU, where she was based, but much of her militant activity was carried out in London. In 1911, she took part in a demonstration in Parliament Square and was roughly treated by police. She protested against this treatment by smashing a window at the Local Government Board Office. She was sentenced to seven days in Holloway Prison. Leonora also took part in the 1912 window-smashing campaign in London but was not arrested. In 1913, she led a deputation representing seamstresses and tailoresses from Leeds, which marched to an agreed meeting with members of the Cabinet at the House of Commons. There they were assured that women would be included in the newly proposed 'Franchise Bill'. Shortly afterwards, the bill was withdrawn, and Leonora took part in a subsequent protest, breaking a glass cabinet in the Tower of London. The case against her was dismissed as the jury could not reach a verdict. She was also imprisoned in 1913 in Leeds and went on hunger strike. In 1914, Leonora joined the bodyguard that served to protect WSPU leader Emmeline Pankhurst from arrest and was armed with a club. A committed vegetarian, she opened a vegetarian guest house in Harrogate, advertising it in the newspaper The Suffragette. In the 1930s, she joined the Women's Freedom League (WFL), who were still working on behalf of women's rights.

Other Suffrage Activities: Leonora served as a magistrate in Leeds for 30 years, was the first woman in Leeds to sit on a prison-visiting committee, and was president of Leeds Trades Council and organiser for the National Union of General and Municipal Workers (Leeds). She was awarded an OBE for her services to the community.