HANNAH Mitchell, played a leading role in the Suffragette movement and took on board the fight for Bolton shop workers to have half-day holidays. Eileen Murphy, a freelance Bolton writer and director, has adapted Hannah's story for the People's History Museum at The Pump house, Bridge Street, Manchester.

HANNAH Mitchell was born in 1871 in Derbyshire on a remote farm, on land now familiar to motorists as the Snake Pass.

The school was in the next valley, making it difficult for Hannah to attend. She did go for two weeks but had to stay over because it was too difficult a journey to go and come back every day.

But Hannah became ill and her parents decided it was all too much for her to cope with and that she should be educated by them at home. She started work as a maid in Glossop but, allowed no time off, she decided to quit to become a seamstress.

Work was seasonal and in 1888 Hannah came to Bolton to earn her living. It was her first time so far away from home and she earned 10 shillings a week.

Of that she had to pay 2s 6d to her landlady -- and this was to pay to share a bed with the landlady's daughter.

Eileen Murphy said: "Despite the hardship Hannah endured during her time in Bolton, she seems to have been very fond of the town and writes in her autobiography kindly of her landlady.

"At this time Hannah was working late hours as a seamstress based above shops. Conditions were harsh and the women were not even allowed to talk to one another."

Hannah met her husband in Bolton. He was an assistant in a drapery store. They married in the town and had one child, Frank.

Eileen said: "When they married Hannah's living conditions changed. She had to give up work and take sewing into the house. She was a good manager but money was so short she could not afford to buy her baby a shawl."

Hannah had always been outspoken and while working as a seamstress in Bolton became involved in getting half-day holidays for workers, attending meetings on Town Hall Square.

The family moved to Ashton before settling in Manchester. By this time Eileen had become a member of the Independent Labour Party and was a speaker of growing reputation -- her subject, the need to improve women's conditions.

At the same time -- the early 1900s -- Hannah met the Pankhurst sisters in Manchester. She was even jailed for one night because of her involvement with the Suffragettes.

Hannah was also a pacifist and stood firm during the First World War.

She later became a councillor for Manchester City Council and then a magistrate.

Eileen said: "Hannah was a fascinating woman. She was ahead of her time when it came to breaking down domestic duties between men and women.

"She was not only one of the first women councillors in the early 1900s but also one of the first women appointed on to the Poor Law Guardians looking after the needs of the poor in Ashton.

"She was a pioneer in many ways, a firebrand who spoke her mind. I really loved working on Hannah's life story. The hardest part was breaking it all down to a 30-minute performance for the museum."

Hannah's story is brought to life at the People's History Museum as part of a Play Your Part project by actress Gill Jephcott.

She appears as Hannah at 2pm and 3.30pm on Sundays July 21, August 11 and September 1.