annie williams

Community and Voluntary Action 

1860 – 1943 

Suggested by Sophie Meyer 

Sophie writes,
“Annie Williams was born in Feock, Truro in 1860. After a long and respected career as a teacher, she set aside her role as Headmistress of Crantock Public Elementary School aged 47 to take an active part in the growing suffragette movement.
In 1909 she became a full-time organiser for the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) and an important figure in the suffrage movement. In 1909, she protested at the House of Commons and was arrested and released.
In 1912, after a window-smashing protest again at the House of Commons she spent a month in Holloway Prison where she was force-fed during her hunger strike. She was awarded a medal for her activism by WSPU. 

Annie organised and took part in protests all over the UK, organising events in the Midlands, speaking in Newcastle, Huddersfield and Halifax.
She was attacked by a mob when speaking for WSPU in Dorset.  Latterly she was an organiser for WSPU Wales and based in Cardiff.  

It was through Annie’s work with the WSPU that she met her life-partner, fellow suffragette Lettice Floyd. Lettice and Annie stayed together until Lettice’s death in 1934. She willed her estate solely to Annie, who later moved back to Truro.  

Highlighting Queer women is important for cornish history.”