Mrs Emma Dornbusch
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Wife of vestryman
1866 Petition: Yes
Petition Area: 11 Grove Villas, London, Middlesex, England
Other sources: https://www.parliament.uk/1866
https://womanandhersphere.com/?s=dornbusch
Family information: Married to George Dornbusch. Stepmother to Ada Dornbusch, who also signed the 1866 petition (see Further Suffrage Activity).
Additional Information: Emma was the second wife (the first being Amalie) of George Dornbusch, described as a 'fugitive German communist', arriving in England in 1845. Emma had been George's housekeeper before they married and, after signing the petition with her stepdaughter Ada, there is no evidence to suggest that she had any further involvement with the movement. However, her husband George was, in 1863, on the general committee of the Emancipation Society, with anti-slavery and women's suffrage advocate John Stuart Mill and Richard Pankhurst (Emmeline Pankhurst's (WSPU) husband). In 1867, he was a member of the National Society for Women's Suffrage and, in 1868?1872, a member of the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (CCNSWS). He died in 1873. Emma remarried and left the country for Australia in 1881.
Other Suffrage Activities: Emma's husband George had been a leading figure in the early vegetarian movement with his first wife Amalie. He was also an agitant in the anti-vaccination and peace movements.