Anne Leigh Browne
Biography and Correspondence
Anne Leigh Browne (Mar. 14, 1851-Mar. 8, 1936) was born into a well-off family in the United Kingdom that provided her with tutors and governesses and even sent her to Queens College on Harley Street for a year. The same year she was in college she was invited to what many consider the first women’s suffrage meeting with Mary Carpenter at the home of John Beddoe and his wife. While Browne was committed to the suffragist movement, her real passion was for education and bringing women into public office.
In 1880 she, along with Mary Stewart Kilgour worked hard as advocates for women’s education and their work led to the opening of College Hall in 1882. Much of this was made possible with Browne’s financing of the endeavor. In 1888, Browne once against used her funds to join eleven other women in forming the “Society for Promoting the Return of Women as County Councilors”, which became the “Women’s Local Government Society” in 1893. The aim was to elect women to local government positions, especially in areas where they were not distinctly forbidden to run. Two women were elected to the London County Council because of the unclear wording of the Local Government Act 1888, but a court case later disqualified the women. In 1894 new legislation was passed that did allow married women to hold some offices such as on school boards.
Browne remained a major part of the suffrage movement, serving on the executive committee of the Union of Practical Suffragists, and being an active member of the Central Society for Women’s Suffrage and the London Society for Women’s Suffrage. She took part in the famous “Mud March” of February 7, 1907, the first mass procession of British suffragists, when 3,000 women marched in the muddy streets of London. This procession was part of the organizing genius of Philippa Strachey, the sister of Oliver Strachey, who married Hannah Whitall Smith’s granddaughter, Ray Costelloe.
Feb. 13, 1894
Dear Mrs. Pearsall Smith,
Could you spare half an hour for me to call upon you to speak about a resolution we are going to ask you to move on the 16th inst. The draft cannot be quick-fixed until the last on account of the changes made by the action of the House of Lords in the Local Govt. Bill, but if you could let me call upon you on Thursday next, 15th, after 2 PM, or if the afternoon cannot be convenient at 11 AM. I enclose a card of reminder for the meeting.
Yours truly,
Anne Leigh Browne
