Miss Marguerite Annie Sidley

Other sources: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4769024
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866?1928 (1999)

Database linked sources: https://www.suffrageresources.org.uk/resource/3229/the-womens-freedom-league

Additional Information: Marguerite joined the WSPU in 1907 after attending a meeting with her mother. She had had to give up her full-time job at that time due to ill health (a lung condition), but offered her clerical skills to the WSPU for free so long as her savings lasted. She was arrested when taking part in a deputation to the House of Commons in 1907 and spent 12 days in Holloway Prison. She was offered paid employment as a typist in the WSPU office when she was released, but her lung condition meant that she had to become an 'outdoor worker' instead. This meant travelling and helping with campaigns in Hull and Lancashire. In 1908, she left the WSPU and joined the breakaway Women's Freedom League (WFL), which Marguerite worked for until 1916. She was part of their caravan tour around the country in 1908, and was arrested in 1909, presumably for some 'disturbances' involved in her going to the House of Commons and asking to see her Member of Parliament there. In 1910, having spent some time working in Scotland, she was appointed as WFL organiser there. However, by 1912, this work had become too strenuous and she joined the WFL office staff. In 1914, Marguerite was arrested for speaking from the steps of the Board of Trade Hall in Whitehall, London, and spent four days in prison.