The Sunderland suffragette who made an incredible mark on history

A historian has paid tribute to another of Sunderland's great achievers of the past.

Derek Holcroft has already shared tales of radar innovator Bernard Rimmington and Bletchley Park code breaker Joseph Gillis.

Women had only just got the vote

Now he has turned the spotlight on Marion Phillips who was Sunderland's first female MP.

Derek told us: "At a time when women had only just got the vote she must have been a remarkable orator. Imagine the prejudice she might have faced in those early days.

"A suffragette and a very early pioneer for women’s rights."

She did remarkable work to help the destitute

Dr Marion Phillips was the town's first female MP at the 1929 general election; the first election in which women’s voting rights were equal to men’s.

She addressed the people of Sunderland in meetings that year, at Antelope Corner and the Villiers Street Institute.

And in 2019, the Echo featured a story on Dr Phillips and her remarkable life.

She was actually born in Melbourne, Australia in 1881, but moved to the UK in 1904.

She graduated from the London School of Economics before working on the Royal Commission into the Poor Laws, researching public health, medical relief and the treatment of destitute children.

This helped create the welfare state in the 1940s, providing a safety net for society’s very poorest.

A very special gift for a Ryhope family

In 1911, she assumed leadership of the Women’s Labour League, promoting the representation of women in parliament before they had even been given the vote.

She held a number of significant roles during the First World War and in 1918 became Labour’s first chief woman officer, a role she retained until her death.

In 1926 she visited Ryhope Miners’ Hall and donated a christening gown and shawl to a struggling mining family who were expecting a baby. In return, the Barnes family christened their daughter Marion Phillips Barnes.

She appealed to all the women of Sunderland

In July 1928, Dr Phillips sent a letter to all women in the town, stressing the importance to them of the 1929 General Election, due to its extended suffrage.

At the time of the election, Sunderland was a difficult seat for Labour, despite being predominantly working-class. Nevertheless, she won and was one of only 14 female MPs in the parliament.

She hadn’t actually intended to stand for parliament, but felt compelled to accept the nomination on behalf of women and the poor.