Margaret Tanner

Margaret Tanner (, 25 October 1817 – 1905) was an English social reformer. Priestman, along with members of hers and the Bright family, were important in the creation of some of the first women's suffrage societies, founded in London, Bristol, and Bath.

Life Tanner was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1817. She was one of the nine children of the Quaker couple, Rachel (born Bragg) and Jonathan Priestman. Her father was a wealthy tanner in Newcastle upon Tyne and her mother (1791–1854) was a travelling minister in the Society of Friends. Her maternal grandmother was Margaret Wilson who had also been a Quaker minister. They lived in the Summerhill district of Newcastle. which was formed in 1870 by Josephine Butler to protest against legislation which undermined the civil rights of those who had been designated prostitutes by the authorities in particular naval and military towns.

In 1866 Tanner and her sisters signed the petition raised in support of women getting the vote. In 1869 her husband died and in the following year her sisters Anna Maria and Mary moved south to live with her.

Death and legacy Tanner died in 1905. Her two sisters and housemates went on to join the suffragettes and died in 1914.

Personal life She first married in 1846 to Daniel Wheeler who was a fellow Quaker and they lived in Bristol. Daniel died in 1848 and she remarried to Arthur Tanner in 1855 who was involved with a family timber firm.