Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement. She was born into a family with a tradition of radical politics and married Richard Pankhurst, a lawyer and a firm believer in the social and political emancipation of women and his ideas did a lot to bolster her belief. She founded the Women's Franchise League, which fought to allow married women to vote in local elections. She helped found the more militant Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) - an organization that gained much notoriety for its activities and whose members were the first to be christened 'suffragettes’. Her daughters Christabel and Sylvia were both active in the cause. British politicians, press and public were astonished by the demonstrations, window smashing, arson and hunger strikes of the suffragettes. Like many suffragettes, she was arrested on numerous occasions and went on hunger strike herself, resulting in violent force-feeding. This period of militancy was ended abruptly with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. She turned her energies to supporting the war effort. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave voting rights to women over 30. She died shortly before women were granted equal voting rights with men.