Madge Turner –
The Chichester Suffragist
Nichola Court
Madge Turner – The Chichester Suffragist
This is the story of a brave and determined woman who spent her life campaigning for the rights of women and children both nationally and internationally.
West Sussex Record Office Archivist Nichola Court has spent many years researching Ethel Margaret Turner, always known as Madge, who was born in Chichester in 1884.
Madge’s lifelong activism began in Chichester, where she co-founded a women’s Liberal group in 1905 and spoke during the 1906 General Election campaign in support of women’s suffrage. She joined the Women’s Freedom League (WFL) soon after its founding in 1907, a militant but non-violent suffrage organisation.
In February 1909, she was elected to carry the Easebourne based West Sussex branch’s banner at a march on Downing Street. She was arrested for ‘wilfully obstructing the police in their duty’ and sentenced to 14 days imprisonment in Holloway. The experience strengthened her commitment to “the cause,” and she spoke publicly about it in meetings across Sussex. Described as a “brave and tenacious speaker,” Madge went on to become a paid WFL organiser, setting up branch shops, canvassing, and arranging campaigns in Gloucester, London, and Scotland – where she coordinated the influential Clyde Campaigns.
After the First World War, her focus shifted to broader social justice. In 1919, she was appointed Assistant Secretary and Librarian to the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene (AMSH), which campaigned against child exploitation, prostitution, and trafficking of young girls. She worked there for the rest of her life and eventually became Secretary in 1941, a post she held until retiring in 1945 three years before she died.
Copies of Madge Turner are available from the West Sussex Records Office, the Oxmarket Gallery and from the Chichester Women’s History Group for £10 plus £3.50 postage and packing