I had the singular good fortune when young to come under the influence of that band of trojan women who, led by Eleanor Rathbone, operated under the banner of the Liverpool Women Gtizens' Association. Their purpose was to win for women the right to vote in order that they might enjoy the full responsibilities of citizenship and to train them to carry out the obligations this would impose upon them. It was to that end that they demanded the right to education, to opportunity, to independence. Whatever their particular needs, the common inspiration which bound them all together was the passion of their conviction that each and every one of them had a right and a duty to take their place as contributing members of the community to which they belonged. Active Citizens indeed!

It is impossible to convey to the 1990s the long-lasting impact of that declaration on me and my generation in the period after the First World War. We were that unfortunate band who faced life dubbed ‘Superfluous Women’. The label was deadly accurate.