Agnes Husband became involved in her forties in socialism and the
Labour party, standing unsuccessfully for election to the School Board in 1897. But in 1901 she was elected as one of the first two women on the Parochial Board. In 1905 Husband won a place on the School Board too and promoted providing meals, books, and nursery education to poor children in the city. Her own education continued in evening classes at Dundee University College and she became President of the
Women's Freedom League (WFL) branch which started up in the city, She promoted the humanising effect of women who have 'a keener insight, and a more humane ideal into the problem involved' if they only had the 'courage and conviction' also to put themselves forward to serve on key municipal boards. This was at a well attended 1911 ratepayers' meeting in
Perth, and a motion by Perth
Lord Provost Macnab was carried, to follow Dundee's example, based on what he called Husband's 'most suggestive and sparkling address' and he called upon support from what he dubbed 'the weaker sex, namely the men' - for that city also to encourage more women candidates to their
School Board,
Town Council and
Parish Council elections. In 1908, Husband introduced suffragette ex-prisoners
Anna Munro and
Amy Sanderson, whom she knew personally, to a large gathering in the Prince of Wales Halls, in
Glasgow to share their prison experiences, when Sanderson said that prison reform was something that women should use their vote for, once it was won. In 1909 Husband had also taken on a national role in the movement for women's suffrage. In 1910, Husband was one of the Scottish delegates to the WFL annual conference and pictured with eight others in
The Vote, WFL's newsletter. In 1912, Husband attended the Seventh Annual Conference of the Women's Freedom League and is pictured greeting WFL President
Mrs Despard. Activist
Annot Wilkie or Robinson appears to have been influenced by Husband. after appearing alongside Charlotte Despard at an open air event in
Hyde Park, London on 24 August 1913, Husband continued her activism. On 9 October 1913, she convened a meeting where Miss Deas expounded 'Bible reading and Votes for Women' showing that 'from the beginning of time fine women had claimed their rights and got them.' In the same month, under Husband's presidency, the Dundee WFL branch went out to join the local
Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) to demonstrate against
forcible feeding of suffragettes at Dundee Prison. by WFL Scottish organiser
Ada Broughton and others. Also in 1914, Husband was elected to the Dundee School Board, although fellow suffragist
Mary H. J. Henderson was not successful, as the electorate for the organisation, included some plural voting arrangements (known as 'plumpers'). In 1926 at the age of 74, she was the 5th woman to be given the Freedom of the
City of Dundee. Husband's Burgess ticket was on display in the City Archives for the centenary of women's suffrage, and it says it was "in recognition of the valuable services rendered by her to the Community as a Member of the Parish Council and the Education Authority and in many other ways over a long period of years". She died in 1929. Agnes Husband's influence and link to the wider suffrage movement was described as "she worked long and conscientiously on behalf of the poor and for better education. As a member of the suffrage movement, she spoke, wrote and campaigned with gusto. She also supported and encouraged her younger sisters to become involved." == Death and legacy ==