Describe the position of women in the 19th centrury
... Women in nineteenth century Britain had very few rights and sovereignty of themselves. Women faced great social, economic and legal inequality in a male dominated society, however they could do very little to improve their situation as they had no means of political representation. In the 1870s, new legislature began to elevate women’s position in society and caused a campaign for women’s suffrage to develop. Legal reforms such as the 1870 Married Womens Property Act began gradually to improve the legal status of women. The 1870 ‘Property Act’ is particularly significant as before women were completely property less, however it only allowed wives to keep ‘£200’ of their earnings, their husbands still had control of most of their possessions.