 <unk> Stephen , MBE ( 19 April 1893 – 12 June 1979 ) was a twentieth @-@ century British suffragette , labour activist and local councillor . She grew up in Scotland and won a scholarship to train as a teacher . Family finances dictated otherwise , leading to her becoming a domestic worker at the age of 15 . She became involved in national labour issues as a teenager , via organisations such as the Independent Labour Party and the Women 's Social and Political Union . After moving to Lancashire and London she visited the United States and Canada , where she held meetings with the public including migrant English domestic workers . 
