Richard’s legal and political work was taking him increasingly to London, where
Emmeline now longed to live; the metropolis, the centre of the English political
system, would offer Richard a better chance of fulfilling his dream of becoming
a Member of Parliament. Determined to help him financially in his political
efforts by earning an income of her own, she decided that the opening of a shop
could be a solution to their problems and settled on 165 Hampstead Road
which comprised a shop with living accommodation above. The children were
brought from Manchester and stayed with Susannah in lodgings until the new
home was ready, while Emmeline, bubbling with enthusiasm, had the exciting
task of choosing, within her limited means, stock for the new venture. She
bought an array of fancy goods, such as milking stools and photo frames, which
she enamelled in pale colours and Mary decorated with painted flowers.^1 When
‘Emerson and Co.’, as the shop was called, was opened, Emmeline moved ‘in a
radiant daydream’.^2
Her hopes of earning large profits, however, were soon to be dashed.
Although the estate agent had told her that the shop premises were located in a
rising area, the goods stocked in Emerson’s were too elegant for the neighbour-
hood where market stalls selling cheap goods were pitched in the streets. The
family budget had to be managed carefully with no extra spending on what
Emmeline saw as unnecessary items, even at Christmas time.^3 Then there was
also the cost of Richard’s frequent trips to Manchester where he still had a
number of legal cases. During these separations from her husband, Emmeline
always looked forward to his loving letters which inevitably included some
reference to their present political life and hopes for the future. ‘We ought to
feel that we are going through a preparing trial. So much is going on, in which
we ought to be a part.’ After nine years of marriage, he still spoke of his strong
feelings for her as though it was the eve of their wedding. ‘You know how I love
you and want to cherish your life. How splendid you were on Saturday – in all
that unconscious loveliness! Dear heart, I hold you to mine!’^4
The late 1880s, recollected Emmeline, was a time ‘of tremendous unrest, of
labour agitations, of strikes and lockouts. It was a time also when a most
stupid reactionary spirit seem to take possession of the Government and the
nancy kaufman
(Nancy Kaufman)
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