Mitchell, Hannah (1871–1956)

British suffragist and politician. Born in 1871 in Derbyshire, England; died in 1956; daughter of John Webster (a farmer); married Gibbon Mitchell, in 1895.

Hannah Mitchell was born in Derbyshire, England, in 1871. She attended school for only two weeks and spent most her time helping her mother with domestic chores. Mitchell rebelled against the drudgery of rural life, however, and ran away from home in 1885 after a particularly violent disagreement with her mother. She found employment as a dressmaker in the town of Bolton, where she slowly taught herself to read and write. She also became active in socialist politics and the local trade-union movement, and met Gibbon Mitchell, whom she married in 1895.

The Mitchells had a progressive marriage that included equal distribution of household chores, but Mitchell yearned for a life outside the home and soon became active in the women's suffrage movement. She joined the Women's Social and Political Union in 1904, but became disenchanted with Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst 's leadership and in 1907, along with Charlotte Despard and others, moved to the new Women's Freedom League. A pacifist, Mitchell opposed British involvement in World War I and spent the war years working for the Women's Peace Council. After the war, she returned to politics and in 1924 was elected to the Manchester city council. Her autobiography, The Hard Way Up, was published after her death in 1956.

Grant Eldridge , freelance writer, Pontiac, Michigan