At the beginning of the 2oth century Redhill was home to an artist and campaigner, Millicent Fanny Woodhams. She was a remarkable woman whose life blended art, education, and social reform. Known locally in Redhill for her talent and determination, she became an influential figure in both the arts community and the women’s suffrage movement.
Millicent Fanny Woodhams was born in Ealing in 1877, one of ten children of James and Melvina Woodhams. Following the early death of her father, she was sent to live with her aunt Maria in Swindon. Although baptised as Millicent Fanny, census and family sources confirm she was generally known as Fanny.
By the age of seventeen Fanny had moved to Redhill to live with another aunt, Eliza Richards, in Park Road. On 17 May 1895, she was baptised at St Matthew’s Church, Redhill and soon began her artistic career. Fanny quickly established a reputation for both her artistic ability and her gift for teaching.
In 1900, when the Redhill School of Art formed a Students' Sketching Club, she was appointed its tutor. 
Her students’ works were later exhibited at Redhill Technical College, while Fanny’s own submissions earned distinction.
Her pieces were sent to Kensington for her Art Masters Certificate, and the Board of Education retained them as exemplar material, a considerable distinction.
By 1903, the Surrey Mirror reported her leading a series of successful public art lectures at Redhill Technical College. Her passion for art education and community engagement was clear, marking her as a dynamic and influential figure.
Fanny’s energy extended beyond the classroom. She became organising secretary of the Redhill and Reigate Women's Suffrage Society and later served as a part-time organiser for Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire on behalf of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Unlike the militant suffragettes of the Women's Social and Political Union, the NUWSS believed in winning support through meetings, petitions and peaceful public demonstrations.
One of the movement's most memorable occasions came on 13 June 1908, when more than 10,000 women took part in the spectacular Women's Sunday Procession through London. Fifty-three women from the Redhill and Reigate society marched beneath a banner designed by Fanny and embroidered by fellow members. Although no image of the banner itself has survived, it must have been a striking contribution to one of the most colourful political demonstrations of the Edwardian period, when nearly a thousand hand-crafted banners filled the streets on the way to the Royal Albert Hall.
Fanny understood that successful campaigning required more than speeches. She helped organise imaginative public events that combined entertainment with political persuasion. These events attracted people who might never otherwise have attended a political meeting and helped broaden support for the suffrage cause across Surrey.
‘With commendable foresight the energetic members of the society’s committee had arranged to take advantage of so many people and had provided two capable speakers who addressed two sympathetic audiences during the day.’ Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser
Among the most ambitious was a suffrage fête held in September 1908 in Hethersett, the Reigate garden of Mrs Helena Auerbach. Visitors enjoyed music, dancing, fairy lights, Japanese illuminations and an open-air performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by the Elizabeth Beale Comedy Company before listening to speeches advocating women's enfranchisement.
Fanny was also an accomplished public debater. As opposition to women's suffrage intensified, she regularly challenged anti-suffrage arguments in the local press. Following a meeting of anti-suffragists at Brockham in November 1912, she wrote to the Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser rebutting many of the arguments that she had heard made.
‘Women cannot be provided for except by some man.’ In this statement Mrs Harold Norris overlooks the fact that 80% of the women in England are wage earners and that nearly five and a half million women are entirely self-supporting.’
Her letter prompted an equally robust reply from a correspondent signing themselves "L.F.S.", illustrating how fiercely the issue divided public opinion in the years before the First World War.
All this talk about the oppression of women is childish. The women of England are in an exalted position and one is thankful that it is but a small minority of them who wish to lower themselves in the eyes of men, by losing their graces and descending to low-bred tactics such as firing pillar-boxes and smashing windows.’ LFS
Fanny’s commitment to improving people's lives extended beyond politics.
In 1910 the Surrey Mirror described her as the founder, driving force and honorary secretary of the Battle Bridge Guild in Merstham. The Guild encouraged education, recreation and community activities, including a gymnastics class for girls—an unusually progressive initiative at a time when opportunities for girls' physical education remained limited.
Like much of her work, the Guild reflected Fanny's belief that education, confidence and opportunity should be available to everyone.
In the summer of 1913 Fanny married Dr Alfred Bradley Gough, an Oxford lecturer whose family also lived in Redhill and who shared her support for women's suffrage. Both contributed to the Women's Employment Fund, continuing their commitment to social reform.
After their marriage Alfred went on to contribute to the New English Dictionary and the Encyclopaedia Britannica, while Fanny continued teaching art for around another decade before devoting more time to raising their son.
Following Alfred's death in 1939, Fanny moved to Chelmsford, where she lived until her own death in 1959.
Millicent Fanny Woodhams never sought national fame, yet she left an enduring mark on Redhill. She inspired young artists, organised one of Surrey's most active suffrage societies, challenged political opponents in print and devoted herself to strengthening her local community. Long before women gained the parliamentary vote, Fanny had already shown what determined and talented women could achieve. Her life deserves to be remembered as an important chapter in the history of both Redhill and the campaign for women's equality.
Surrey Mirror
Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser