Not given

34

Married.

Ashley Rise, Battledown, Cheltenham.

WFL

Evades

Born How, Florence was the daughter of John How, a wealthy grocer and tea dealer. She was educated at the North London Collegiate School and matriculated with a Univerity of London B.A. She married a local Cheltenham solicitor, William Earengey in 1899 and they had one daughter, Oenone. Initially a supporter of the NUWSS, she was then a member of the short-lived Cheltenham WSPU and in 1907 was its representative to the local MP. But when her sister, (see) Edith How-Martyn, led the national breakaway from the Pankhursts' grip on the WSPU and was one of the founders of the WFL, Florence followed suit. From 1908 she led the local branch which became a small but tightly-knit group. A woman with a 'bubbling electric personality' and 'magnetism and drive' according to her grandson, she inspired much admiration. She was at the forefront of the Cheltenham census boycott, her husband having advised the national WFL and her sister on the legalities involved. Both she and her daughter evaded the census, probably with her devoted domestic servant Rose. Her husband wrote a statement on the census return to indicate their absence. He had always been an active supporter of the cause and became President of nearby Winchcombe NUWSS. Researcher/writer Sue Jones author of 'Votes for Women: Cheltenham and the Cotswolds' (The History Press, 2018).