In September of 1891, Elizabeth Clarke Wolstenholme Elmy founded the Women's Emancipation Union or the WEU. (Wright, 383) Her decision to create the WEU came after the ruling of Regina v. Jackson. (Wright, 390) Regina v Jackson, most commonly referred to as the Clitheroe Judgement, highlights the views on women's rights in the late 19^th century. In the case, Mr. Jackson had kidnapped his wife, and he refused to release her after she refused to live with him. His actions were considered legal by Justice Coleridge, stating that the law of England grants men dominion over women. (Mallet, 71) The case then went to the Court of Appeal, who rejected the notion of the husband's absolute dominion over his wife. (Mallet, 71) The Clitheroe Judge had captured public attention and was discussed long after the case was over. While the public debated whether the ruling from the Court of Appeal was justified, Wolstenholme Elmy saw progress and justice in the case ruling. (Wright, 390) She wrote that a new society must be formed to take advantage of the shift in women's legal status, so she began to draft the proposal of WEU three months following the Clitheroe Judgement. (Wright, 390)

        Wolstenholme Elmy's proposal was met with support because she had been a prominent figure in the Married Women's Property and Contagious Disease Act in 1889. (Levine, 46) In Wolstenholme Elmy's proposal, she wrote of a four-point agenda for the WEU. The agenda stated that there must be "equality of right and duty with men in all matter affecting the service of the community and the state; equality of opportunity of opportunity for self-development by the education of schools and of life; equality in the industry by equal freedom of choice of career; and equality in marriage and in parental rights." (Wright, 404) The WEU's methodology was to pursue its objectives through a regional network of local organizers. (Wright, 391) For this reason, Wolstenholme Elmy relied on local activists to create a women's rights movement. The WEU set up ten local organizers in cities around England. (Wright, 391) A unique feature of the WEU was that men were also welcomed to participate or financially support the WEU. (Wright, 390) In fact, three male lawyers were a part of the WEU's executive council. (Wright, 391)

            The WEU was active between 1891 and 1899. Their work expanded feminist activism principles from earlier in the century, which contained many conservative elements. (Wright, 392). For example, unlike major suffrage societies, the WEU wanted all women to have the right to vote, not only the middle-class women. (Wright, 393) The WEU also published the first sex education manual for adults to use to teach children and teenagers. This work and a series of works on women's sexual physiology were controversial at the time of its publication. (Wright, 388) For this reason, the work done by individuals in the WEU, like Sylvia Parker, was considered radical during its time. (Levine, 46) Other publications by the WEU focused on describing women's oppression and a call for liberation. Women Free by Ellis Ethelmer, which was a pseudonym for Wolstenholme Elmy's husband, was a book of poems describing a women's oppression. One of the poems described a married woman's oppression; he wrote, "Her path confined by man to sordid end, as subjugated wife, or hireling transient friend." (Ethelmer, 5) In addition to numerous publications, the WEU held numerous conferences to discuss and increase awareness of women's issues.

           Although the WEU became inactive in 1899, they left behind an extensive record of their work. Wolstenholme Elmy took meticulous notes of the highs and lows of the WEU's campaigning between 1891 and 1899. (Wright, 395) She believed that the WEU's activities were historically significant, so she forwarded her notes to the British Museum. (Wright, 395) The British Museum archived the works of the WEU. The WEU had various notable reforms that they pushed for. The WEU uniquely campaigned that a woman's bodily autonomy grants her citizenship rights. (Wright, 399) They also focused on divorce reform, and they criticized the slavery of sex. (Levine, 93 and 42) The WEU also advocated for all women to have the right to vote with cross-class collaboration. (Wright, 398) In summary, the WEU was considered a radical feminist group for its time with a dynamic group of members who advocated for a broad spectrum of women's issues.

Works Cited

Ethelmer, Ellis. Woman Free. Women's Emancipation Union, 1893.

Levine, Philippa. Victorian Feminism, 1850-1900, University Press of Florida, 1989. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/depaul/detail.action?docID=5475816.

Mallett, Phillip. "'Smacked, and brought to her senses': Hardy and the Clitheroe Abduction Case." The Thomas Hardy Journal, vol. 8, no. 2, 1992, pp. 70–73. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/45272380. Accessed 2 Oct. 2020.

Wright, Maureen. "The Women's Emancipation Union and Radical-Feminist Politics in Britain, 1891–99." Gender & History, vol. 22, no. 2, Aug. 2010, pp. 382–406. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0424.2010.01596.x.