Elizabeth Wilks

Elizabeth Wilks born Lizzie Bennett (17 July 1861 – 16 November 1956) was a British doctor, suffragist, tax resister and philanthropist. She was a founder member and treasurer of the Women's Tax Resistance League (WTFL). She was married to Mark Wilks who was sent to jail for her refusal to pay tax and his refusal to make his wife tell him how much she earned.

Life Wilks was born in De Montfort Square in Leicester to John and Sarah Annie Bennett. She attended the university of London and when she left in 1896 she was a qualified doctor and she had a degree in surgery. The same year she married Mark Wilks who was a London teacher.

Wilks was a founder member of the Women's Tax Resistance League (WTFL) which was a group who objected particularly to women paying tax to a government over which they had no electoral control. Wilks became the treasurer of the organisation whose motto was "No Vote No Tax!". This put the authorities into a quandary as Elizabeth was not liable to pay tax and her husband was nominally willing to pay the tax but he said that he had no idea how much to pay. There was no legal requirement for Elizabeth to tell her husband about her income. In 1910 the authorities illegally seized some of her goods in an attempt to levy the tax on her income. The authorities then tried to claim the tax either from them as a couple or by her husband alone. This was legally unsatisfactory as Mark was being asked for tax on her income (of about £600 per annum) that he was nominally unaware of. 3,000 teachers signed a petition when Mark Wilks was placed in Brixton Jail, appeals were made to the King and there was a demonstration in Trafalgar Square to protest at his treatment. He was released after a fortnight to a celebrations at Caxton Hall from the supporters of the Women's Tax Resistance League. Despite a debate in the House of Lords where it was realised that the law was unfair,