This article is "a long read". If you prefer to download it to read it is available to download from my website (PDF document). Quotations from Esther Knowles’s letter to Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence dated 25 February 1950 are given with the permission of Barbara Sessions. In December 2019 I was contacted by Barbara Sessions of Christchurch, New Zealand. Barbara is the great niece of Esther Knowles and wondered if I would be interested in seeing a copy of a letter Esther had sent to Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence in 1950. Emmeline (1867–1954) and her husband Frederick Pethick-Lawrence (1871–1961) had been leaders of the militant Women’s Social & Political Union which was campaigning for votes for women.  Esther Knowles (Photograph: Barbara Sessions May not be reproduced without permission.) The answer to Barbara’s question was, of course, a resounding ‘yes’. The letter is dated 25 February 1950, two days after the British General Election. In it, Esther wrote about her respo...