In 1907 Isabella McKeown became the first organiser of the Women’s Social and Political Union in Brighton ( WSPU ) lodging at 209 Preston Drove. In 1909, she opened the Brighton office of the WSPU at 8 – 9 The Quadrant, near The Clock Tower – saying “We have plenty of money and plenty of courage as well.”
She organised public meetings on The Level and seafront and disruption of political meetings, especially in 1910 when there were two General Elections. The Liberal Asquith government was their target, as promises for a Suffrage Bill had not been kept.
Isabella was outspoken and bold in her public speeches and a prolific letter writer. A campaigner for social justice, she said that in the countries where women already had the vote, there were now many reforms for the working poor such as pensions, reduction of hours and laws against cruelty and abuse of children.
“The brain is neither male nor female” was one of her answers to a militant crowd. She said, “It is capitalism that is doing its best to destroy family life, not women.”
Mary Clarke followed Isabella as WSPU organiser in June 1909. After Mary’s death in December 1910, following beating and forcible feeding, Isabella spoke at her memorial service in Brighton, saying:
“Her they must not mourn in silence. They must take the torch from her and light the darkness of craft and cruelty.”