Margaret Ann Travers Symons (née Williams; 18 August 1879 – after 1951) was a British suffragette. On 13 October 1908, she became the first woman to speak in the House of Commons when she broke away from her escort into the debating chamber and made an exclamation to the assembly.
Early life
She was born Margaret Anne Williams on 18 August 1879 in Paddington. Her father was Robert Williams, a Welsh architect elected to the London County Council in 1901 and who served on its housing committee. He subsequently lived and worked in Egypt.
In 1902, Margaret married William Travers Symons in Hampstead. She became known as Margaret Travers Symons. The couple had separated by 1906.
Secretary to Keir Hardie and suffragette
Travers Symons became the secretary to the Labour Party politician Keir Hardie. She wrote to the London Evening Standard in April 1906, relaying the anti-war policy of the 7th meeting (in Brussels) of the International Socialist Bureau, which Hardie had attended as a Labour Party delegate.
Hardie was a friend and lover of Sylvia Pankhurst and a supporter of women's suffrage in his own right. They were founding members of the East London Federation of Suffragettes which was a breakaway group of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Travers Symons was a suffragette and was briefly the treasurer of the WSPU branch in London.
Incident of 13 October 1908
Travers Symons arranged to be taken around the parliament buildings on 13 October 1908. There was a peephole where women could see into the main chamber. She escaped from her escort, Howell Idris MP, who admitted her on the strength of her father's name, once he had led her to the peephole. She burst into the main chamber of the House of Commons where a debate was in progress on a bill regarding various issues related to children. Reports vary about the exact words she shouted, but they include:
"Drop your talk about the children's bill and give us votes for women!"
"Attend to the women's question!"
"Address the women's issue!"
"Leave off discussing the children's question and give votes to the women first!"
Travers Symons was removed from the building, but she was not arrested, as the Metropolitan Police had no jurisdiction in the Houses of Parliament. The event was reported in major newspapers: she had made by being the first woman to speak in the House of Commons. She wrote the same day to Idris, assuring him her action was unpremeditated.