Julia Scurr

Julia Scurr (née Sullivan; 17 February 1871 – 10 April 1927) was a British politician and suffragette.

Early experience Julia Sullivan was born to Irish parents on 17 February 1871 in Limehouse in the East End of London. She married John Scurr in 1900, who was an accountant, trade unionist and associate of George Lansbury. She became a prominent activist for working women in the East End, and was the main organiser of a large demonstration against unemployment in 1905, following which she met the then Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour. In 1907, she was elected to the Poplar Board of Guardians, representing the Labour Party.

Role in suffrage movement An associate of Sylvia Pankhurst, Scurr joined her East London Federation of Suffragettes. She was one of the delegation of six women (Daisy Parsons, Jane Savoy, Jessie Payne, Mrs Bird and Mrs Watkins) This was just two weeks after her husband had made his fourth attempt to become an MP, unsuccessfully contesting Ipswich by-election.

Political career and later life She opposed British involvement in the First World War, but served on a food control committee during the conflict. In 1919, she was elected to Poplar Borough Council, playing a leading role in the Poplar Rates Rebellion of 1921, and she served as Mayor of Poplar in 1923/4.

She is commemorated in the Julia Scurr garden at the John Scurr Primary School in Stepney.