was accidentally placed upon the register. When informed of the circumstance she expressed great delight, and on the following day polled for Mr. Jacob Bright. The returning officer had no choice in the matter, and the other voters in the room marked their approval by three hearty cheers.
In Manchester 5,347 and in Salford about 1,500 women sent in their claims as voters. Many women freeholders in the counties did the same. Most of the revising barristers threw the names out. The Manchester women consolidated their claims and appealed against the decision in the case Charlton v. Lings, which was heard in the Court of Common Pleas, November 7 and 10, 1867. Lord Chief Justice Bovill having conceded that in a few instances women had "been parties to the return of members to Parliament," proceeded to argue "that the non-user of the right for so long a period raised a strong presumption against its having legally existed, that the legislature in 1867 used the word 'man' in order to designate expressly the male sex, as distinct from women, and that therefore Lord Brougham's Act did not apply. The other judges concurred, and refused to hear further cases raising different points."
In 1870 Dr. Pankhurst, on behalf of the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage, drafted "The Women's Electoral Disabilities Removal Bill," which was introduced into the House of Commons by Mr. Jacob Bright. Thirty-four years later, on the last day of the session, Mr. Will Crooks introduced a Bill in identical terms:—
"That in all Acts relating to the qualification and
