Campaign to restore Edith Rigby's former home

Campaigners in Preston want to turn the building into a museum

A campaign has begun to restore the former home of a city's most famous suffragette and turn it into a museum.

The Georgian home on Winckley Square, Preston, once belonged to prominent suffragette, Edith Rigby and her husband Charles.

The Friends of Edith Rigby group said the derelict house had "deteriorated over the past 30 years" which was "upsetting for the community history".

The property's agent said the current owners had "no plan to sell or lease the building" and were currently "exploring its development potential".

'Do her justice'

Jonny Cosmo, campaigner from the Friends of Edith Rigby group, told BBC Radio Lancashire, he had been concerned about the property and its future for some time.

He said: "It's so upsetting to see, only over the past few weeks we have seen a massive deterioration in the state of the building.

"I am familiar with Edith Rigby, as every Preston local is, and I saw the potential in turning this building [into something] to remember her in memoriam and do justice to her name."

Edith Rigby was friends with the Pankurst sisters, who began the suffragette movement which fought for women's right to vote.

Emmeline Pankhurst's Manchester home, where the Women's Social and Political Union began, is now a community centre and museum..

Mrs Rigby devoted her life to creating a fairer world for women.

She has had several Preston landmarks named after her including the Preston West distributor road, as well as St Peter's School, which was founded by her in 1899.

She married Charles Rigby, a doctor, just before her 21st birthday and they moved to 28 Winckley Square - which is now boarded up with an English Heritage blue plaque marking that she once lived there.

Jonny Cosmo wants to turn the building into a museum

Mr Cosmo, from Preston, said the group hoped to convert the building into a museum on women suffrage and the "local women who deserve some note".

"It's the potential of the building, not just to remember Edith Rigby, it's women's suffrage overall," he added.

"This would be a massive asset to our community, to have an in depth view of our local heritage rather than if it was just converted into another office building or luxury accommodation."

A statement from Robert Pinkus Property Management on behalf of the building owners, said: "The landlord does not intend to sell the building and is in the process of reviewing the development potential of the property."