Teacher

26

Single

53 Bidston Road, Oxton, Birkenhead

WSPU

Evades

Suffrage campaigner Isabel Abraham (later known as Ross) was a committed member of the Women's Social Political Union (WSPU). Isabel started donating to the WSPU in 1908 and remained a regular subscriber until 1913. Perhaps the best indicator of her dedication to 'the Cause' was demonstrated in March 1913 when she sold a bracelet and donated the sale proceeds to the WSPU.
Isabel was born on 22nd of August 1885 in Garston, Liverpool, to Thomas Fell Abraham and his first wife Margaret. By 1891 the Abraham family had moved to Birkenhead, residing at 53 Bidston Road, Oxton (point on the map is approximated due to redevelopment). Interestingly, Isabel and her family are descendants of Quaker founder Margaret Fell. In 1904, Isabel secured a place to study History at Liverpool University. While there, she was elected Joint President of the Student Guild. In addition to her Student Guild responsibilities, she was President of the Women's Christian Union and Chair of the Women's Debating Society. The 1911 census return for 53 Bidston Road does not list Isabel as a resident. Her absence was likely a deliberate act of evasion on Isabel's behalf as part of the suffragette boycott of the census. Isabel's teaching records state that she was working as a teacher at County High School for Girls, Wellington in 1911, but there is no trace of her on the census there either. Perhaps Isabel attended the Census Boycott party hosted by local Liverpool suffragette Dr. Alice Ker. In her diaries, Dr. Ker recorded a ‘Miss Abraham’ leaving her home the next day around 5.30. However, Dr. Ker may have been referring to another local suffragette called Dorothy Abraham, so this is unclear. Either way, we know Isabel spent some time back in Birkenhead that year because she sent a Christmas Greetings Note on WSPU headed paper from the family home in Bidston Road. In 1915, Isabel married William Ross McGregor, a civil engineer from London. Shortly after getting married, Isabel and William relocated to Nairobi where Isabel continued her suffrage campaigning founding the East Africa Women's League in 1917. By the early 1920s, Isabel was living with her husband and two sons at Swarthmoor Hall, Cumbria (the ancestral home of Margaret Fell). In 1933, Isabel was appointed Vice-Chair of the British branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Later in life, she wrote a biography of Margaret Fell called ‘Margaret Fell: Mother of Quakerism’. This book is still in circulation and is considered a key Quaker history text. Contributed by Jo Donnelly, Women's History Blogger, www.theherstorianmum.co.uk. Sources: Copy of Birth Certificate via GRO website; Record Set National School Admission Registers, Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York; Sarah Shields ‘Among Friends: The Story of The Mount School, York’ (2007); Marij van Helmond ‘Dr Alice Ker Diaries - Votes for Women: The Events on Merseyside 1870-1928’ (1992);
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/votes-women-christmas-wishes