About this episode

Lucy Worsley investigates the life and impact of suffragette Annie Kenney.

Lucy Worsley is back with a new series of Lady on Trial, where courtroom drama meets history - with a twist. Lucy and her team of all female detectives travel back more than a hundred years to meet women hauled before the courts for crimes ranging from murder, adultery, and bigamy, to the shocking offense of not knowing their place. In this episode Lucy is investigating suffragette Annie Kenney. Born in 1879 near Oldham into a large, working-class weaving family, Annie works in a mill from a young age. But everything changes when she hears Christabel Pankhurst speak for votes for women in 1905. She quickly becomes involved in the campaign, giving rousing speeches and encouraging women to smash windows. Constantly in and out of prison, Annie endures hunger strike and is one of the first women released under the infamous Cat and Mouse Act. With Lucy to explore Annie Kenney’s story is barrister Jennifer Robinson, author of Silenced Women: Why the Law Fails Women and How to Fight Back. Jennifer gives us insight into how Annie’s actions might be interpreted today, and how they have directly impacted current protest laws. Lucy is also joined by historian and author Dr Lyndsey Jenkins…

More episodes of Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

• Christabel Russell - Scandalous Divorce · July 21, 2026 · 28 min
• Trial by Media · July 14, 2026 · 28 min
• Audrey Jacob - Murder on the Dancefloor · July 7, 2026 · 28 min
• Elizabeth Chudleigh - Bigamist · June 23, 2026 · 28 min
• Caroline Norton - Campaigner · June 16, 2026 · 28 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley podcast page.