Mary Neal and the suffragettes who saved Morris dancing – a Camden story

Historian and author, Kathy Atherton, tells the surprising story of how the Esperance Girls' Club, formed in the slums of Camden by two leaders of the militant 'suffragette' movement, saved the dances of the countryside from extinction.

The Esperance dancers became nationally renowned and travelled the country teaching the dance; but they were also embedded in Mrs Pankhurst's militant campaign for Votes for Women.

It was their leaders' aspiration for change in women's lives - inspired by their time in Camden - that drove both movements, leading many of those involved to prison. And it was the dancers' involvement in the radical campaign that led to the breach with the folklorist Cecil Sharp which saw Esperance written out of the history of the Morris.

Kathy Atherton is the author of the recently published “Mary Neal and the Suffragettes who Saved Morris Dancing”.