In 1911, having been recently widowed, Maggie Sherlock took over as manager of the Tynemouth Grand Hotel. Her predecessor, Mary Tickle was also a widow, who had assumed the managership on the sudden death of her husband. Maggie Sherlock followed in Mary's footsteps by hosting meetings supporting the Suffragist movement. The culmination of these meetings was a talk at the hotel, by the famous Suffragist; Millicent Garrett Fawcett on 24th November 1913. This was part of a tour of the North Eastern federation of the movement and at each talk the venues were full to capacity with supporters. Millicent Fawcett was and still is a feminist icon. In 1913 she was president of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (a much bigger movement than the Suffragette movement). She campaigned for improved rights for women including their education and right to vote. Her sister Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was a doctor and campaigned for women to be able to go into the medical profession. She was widowed in 1884, but like Mary and Maggie, instead of remarrying, took on the role as head of the family and provided for her children. On 24th April 2018 a statue of Millicent was unveiled in Parliament Square near the Houses of Parliament in London alongside those of Churchill, Gandhi and other famous male politicians.
Out of all the hotels I have studied for this book, the Tynemouth Grand is the one which stands out as the most active supporter of equal rights for women.
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