16 Facts About Edith Rigby

Edith Rigby was an English suffragette who used arson as a way to further the cause of women's suffrage.

Edith Rigby founded a night school in Preston called St Peter's School, aimed at educating women and girls.

Edith Rigby was a contemporary of Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst.

Edith Rigby married Dr Charles Rigby and lived with him in Winckley Square in Preston.

Edith Rigby was a suffragette recruiter, gathering new members from among the local Independent Labour Party.

Edith Rigby took part in a march to the Houses of Parliament in London with Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst in 1908.

Fifty-seven women, including Edith Rigby, were arrested and sentenced to a month in prison.

Edith Rigby was taken to court with Grace Alderman, Catherine Worthington and Beth Hesmondhalgh.

Edith Rigby was awarded a Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour' by WSPU.

Edith Rigby claimed to have set fire to the bungalow of Sir William Lever, Bt, on 7 July 1913.

Edith Rigby had a happy marriage with her husband, who lived with her at her cottage.

In 1926, Charles Edith Rigby retired and the couple built a new house, called Erdmuth, outside Llanrhos, North Wales.

Charles died before it was finished and Edith Rigby moved there alone at the end of 1926.

Edith Rigby continued to follow Steiner's work, forming an "Anthroposophical Circle" of her own, and visiting one of his schools in New York.

Edith Rigby eventually suffered from Parkinson's disease and died in 1950 at Erdmuth.

Edith Rigby was cremated and her ashes buried with her husband in Preston Old Cemetery.