The franchise conferred by that Act was confined to "male persons." In The Representation of the People Act of 1867 use was made, not of the words "male person," but of the word "man." In view of the provisions of Lord Brougham's Act, 1859, to the effect that In all Acts of Parliament, unless the contrary is expressly stated, words importing the masculine gender shall apply to women as well as to men, it was supposed that the new Reform Act, since it referred to "men," applied also to women. Consequently, over 7,000 women in Manchester, Salford, and other places got on the register, and shortly after the matter came before the Court of Common Pleas for decision, in the case of Chorlton v. Lings.
In defence of the women's claim to vote, it was shown that in earlier times the right of women to have the vote had existed, that such a right could not be destroyed by non-user, and that the effect of Lord Brougham's Act must necessarily be to make the word "men" apply to women. The judges decided, however, that neither by the Common Law nor by virtue of the new Franchise Act could women vote. In the later case of Beresford Hope v. Lady Sandhurst, Lord Esher, Master of the Rolls, summed up the judicial view of the matter by saying that women cannot exercise a public function, and that, the act of voting being a public function, women cannot vote. He said, further, that this being the common law of England, unless a statute dealing with the exercise of public functions expressly gives power to women to exercise them, it is to be taken
