1897-1901: Esther Roper revitalised the Manchester Society for Women’s Suffrage, which had lacked direction since the death of early leading Votes for Women campaigner Lydia Becker.  The organisation became the North of England Society for Women’s Suffrage. Roper steered the focus away from concentrating on the interests of only middle class women to incorporate working class women. The organisation became part of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. Esther’s lover Eva Gore-Booth became a committee member of the NUWSS. She worked in the Lancashire cotton towns linking the struggle for women’s rights in industry to the fight for the vote for women.