A LETTER written by a key figure in the fight for women’s right to vote has been donated to the Haverfordwest museum.

The letter was written by the political activist who founded the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903 and a leading suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst.

Ms Pankhurst wrote the letter thanking Mr John Warren of Haverfordwest for his kindness and courtesy during the suffragette’s visit to Pembrokeshire in 1908.

Museum curator Simon Hancock said: “We are thrilled to acquire a letter written by one of the most significant women in British history.

“The letter and photograph are fascinating artefacts of the Pembrokeshire by-election from July 1908 when the eyes of the political world were focused very firmly on Pembrokeshire. Mrs Pankhurst and the other suffragettes motored down from London and spent days campaigning and spreading the message of votes for women.

“We must remember these events occurred nearly ten years before women finally secured the vote in 1918.”

Ms Pankhurst came to Pembrokeshire to campaign against Liberal parliamentary candidate Walter Roch as the Asquith government refused to give women the vote.

Mrs Pankhurst arrived at Haverfordwest on July 3, 1908 and immediately gave a speech from a wagon outside the Castle Hotel before travelling all over the county including Fishguard and Solva.

Mr Hancock added: “This letter is a fascinating piece of political, and especially women’s, history which is a great acquisition for the Haverfordwest Town Museum.”