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Uncover the rich history of Elmbridge with our latest online exhibitions
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Explore the latest news and find out what's on this month
Explore our learning offer for schools, families and community groups
Uncover the rich history of Elmbridge with our latest online exhibitions
Want to discover more about your local area?
This sash is a reproduction of a ‘Votes for Women!’ sash. It has been made with the Suffrage campaign colours of green, purple and white, and is similar to what we know women campaigning for the vote would have worn.
The Woman's Book', published in 1918, boasts that it "Contains everything a woman ought to know". Amongst other topics, it has sections on Household Management, Cookery, Children, Home, Dress, Careers and Politics.
The photograph shows the ‘Women in Politics’ section which lists the many suffrage groups and suggests that women should take an active interest in politics.
This statue of Emmeline Pankhurst was made in Thames Ditton at the bronze foundry in the 1920s. Emmeline Pankhurst was the founder of the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union), which are commonly known as the ‘suffragettes’ for short. This statue can now be seen in Westminster’s Victoria Tower Gardens.
A shortage of men meant that women across Britain were needed to fill jobs on the Home Front, like these munition workers at the Gordon Watney & Co Factory in Weybridge. They are pictured here lined up whilst George V and Queen Mary drive through on their visit to the factory. The female workers wore plain pinafores and caps to protect their clothing and hair when they were carrying out the dirty work. This factory specialised in making motor vehicles in peace-time but helped to manufacture aircraft engines and bullets during World War One.
Women make up most of the workforce at the Weybridge Post Office in this photograph. They wear ankle-length skirts, wide-brimmed bowler hats, long double-breasted jackets and boots. This uniform was hardly a fashion statement! It is a far-cry from the sweeping hats, pretty blouses and tailored two-pieces worn in the Edwardian period.
Queen Mary talking to one of the many female workers in a machine workshop at the Gordon Watney & Co Factory, c.1914-18.
Photograph showing the dismantling of Hispano Suiza aviation engines by female workers in the Gordon Watney & Co Ltd factory, c.1914-18.