Helena Brownsword Dowson

Helena Brownsword Dowson (18661964) was a leading suffragist, city councillor and magistrate in Nottingham.

Early life Helena (Nellie) Brownsword was born 23 November 1866 in Nottingham, the only daughter of Alderman Anderson Brownsword and Jane Brownsword (nee Walker) who were both committed to women’s suffrage. The Brownswords were a Unitarian family aligned with the Nottingham Liberal Party. She married William Enfield Dowson (1894), whose family were also liberal, non-conformist Unitarians, and suffragists. Further proof of the Dowson family’s allegiance to women’s enfranchisement was that nearly all members attended a Nottingham suffrage meeting in April 1908 which was addressed by Christabel Pankhurst.

Suffragism The Secretaryship of the Nottingham Suffrage Society was originally held by Brownsword Dowson's mother-in-law, Alice Dowson, and both women had previously established the 'Nottingham Women’s Liberal Association' and the local branch of the National Union of Women Workers. , she became leader of the Nottingham branch and, with her sisters-in-law (Maud, Hilda and Lina) they were leading members. Brownsword Dowson also organised demonstrations, held garden parties and stalls to fundraise for women in Nottingham and worked in the Nottingham’s Suffrage shop located in Regent’s Chambers at 54 Long Row, Nottingham. During the First World War, Brownsword Dowson organised various fundraising and support for women; she was the Honourable Secretary for 'Queen’s Work for Women', a member of the 'Anti-Profiteering' committee, set up two 'Baby Welcomes' and a day nursery at the request of the Ministry of Health. , inaugurated police court work for women and became Chair and Secretary for that work.

Brownsword Dowson also became the first woman Liberal Councillor She was later elected as Vice-Chair of the National Executive of the Liberal Party. and died at home there on 26 September 1964, aged 98. The estate left by Brownsword Dowson was worth £34,863 plus shares and artefacts that were left to various family or friends. then, on 20 July 2020, another plaque was erected at the Nottingham Magistrate's Court by the Judicial Office with the Nottingham Women's History Group to honour her as one of the first three women JP’s , and the latest blue plaque, to celebrate all of Brownsword Dowson's achievements, was placed alongside the latter in Nottingham, November 2020.