Harriet McIlquham

Harriet McIlquham ( Medley; 8 August 1837 – 24 January 1910), also known as Harriett McIlquham, was an English suffragist, poor law guardian and local councillor. Early life Harriet Medley was born on 8 August 1837 in Brick Lane, London, the daughter of Edward Medley (a baker) and Harriet Sanders Medley. She was from a wealthy Unitarian family which encouraged political discussion. In 1869, she purchased a large estate in Staverton.

She co-organized the Birmingham Grand Demonstration with Maria Colby which was held on 22 February 1881, and spoke at the Bradford demonstration. The WFL was the first organisation to include a commitment to married women's suffrage. and the 1884 Reform Act. McIlquham co-founded the more radical Women's Emancipation Union (WEU) in 1892, and served on that organisation's council. She was also a member of the Cheltenham branch of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), but also worked with and donated to the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). In 1905, she lobbied at the House of Commons alongside Sylvia Pankhurst of the WSPU.

Local politics McIlquham was elected a Poor Law guardian for the Boddington in the Tewkesbury Union in April 1881, the first married woman elected to that office in the country. She beat her male rival Henry Arkell by 48 votes. McIlquham served as a poor law guardian for thirteen years, She encouraged other women to stand as candidates in local elections. She also wrote a series of essays on the history of feminism for the Westminster Review.

Personal life Harriet Medley married James Henry McIlquham in 1858. They had four children and lived in Gloucestershire. She was described in obituaries as a "tireless worker for the rights of her sex."

The papers of Harriet McIlquham are archived in The Women's Library at the London School of Economics.