Becker, Lydia Ernestine (1827–1890)

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Becker, Lydia Ernestine (1827–1890)

English botanist and women's rights advocate. Born in 1827; caught diphtheria and died at the health resort of Aix-les-Bains in 1890; eldest of 15 children of Hannibal Becker (owner of a chemical works in Manchester) and Mary (Duncuft) Becker; educated at home; never married; no children.

In a lifetime devoted to women's rights, botanist Lydia Becker established the Manchester Ladies Literary Society, in 1865, as a forum for the study of scientific subjects among women. In 1867, she co-founded and became secretary of the Manchester Women's Suffrage Committee, which became the National Society for Women's Suffrage later that year. Becker edited the Women's Suffrage Journal from 1870 to 1890, as well as other pamphlets on women's suffrage. She also served on the Manchester School Board from 1870.

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