A free talk at the Pankhurst Museum for Heritage Open Days

On 13th October 1905, Christabel Pankhurst was arrested for the first militant activity of the suffragette campaign, disrupting a political meeting and assaulting a police officer. She was sentenced to serve time in Strangeways Prison. It was Christabel's first arrest.

A week later, Mary M'Ginty was arrested for assaulting a police officer while drunk and disorderly. When she faced the magistrates, she told them she was 'putting on the Pankhurst' to explain why she spat at the arresting officers. She was also sent to Strangeways Prison. It was Mary's 148th arrest (and far from her last).

But who was Mary M'Ginty? Join us for a special talk for Heritage Open Days to find out.

Using a vast array of sources (including birth records, censuses, newspapers, workhouse records and prison admissions), Dr Hannah Priest (Heritage Manager at the Pankhurst Museum and author of Unburied: The True Story of Hannah Beswick, the Manchester Museum) tells the life of Mary M'Ginty in all its riotous, raucous and tragic detail. Covering the history of Irish migration to Manchester, as well as workhouse and prison history, Mary's story is a truly memorable Mancunian tale.

Tickets are free, but booking is required.

Description supplied by the event organiser.