Ethel Bentham

Ethel Bentham (1861-1931) was Labour MP for Islington East in 1929. She was the fifteenth ever female MP, the first Quaker, and the oldest woman. Before she became an MP, she was a trained physician and an executive member of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. Bentham fought against unfavourable odds, working to support women. She continued her medical work alongside being an MP, establishing mother and baby clinics in London, and opening her home to like-minded women.