Housewife

47 & 50

Single

16 Styvechale Avenue, Coventry

NUWSS

Complies

Miss French' appears in the NUWSS newspaper the Common Cause in 1911 at which time she was joint secretary of the Coventry branch with (see) Averal Wilks. At that time Miss French is recorded as living at 'Daisy Bank' Middlesborough Road which was home to Frank Milner French and his sisters Miss Ada and Agnes French. The three were also sister and brother to Mr Edmund Oliver French, a successful Coventry businessman who was also president of the Coventry Liberal Association, later a city councillor and Justice of the Peace. Later in 1911, at the time of the goverment census survey, the siblings and servant Kate, lived at 16 Styvechale Road where Agnes and Ada are recorded as housewives. 'Miss French' is a regular feature at meetings of the Coventry Women's Suffrage Society (the local branch of the law abiding NUWSS) as well as acting for a time as joint secretary. But which Miss French - Agnes or Ada? This is currently unclear but there are later references to the presence of the 'Misses French' at various local women's suffrage events, suggesting both sisters were involved with votes for women campaigning. Ada also sat on Coventry Education Committee between 1921 and 1934. The two sisters were close, remaining unmarried and living together at Styvechale Road until their deaths in 1934 and 1940. Researcher: Tara Morton. Coventry research funded by Warwick University.