08/03/2026
This International Women’s Day we shine a light on Alice Clark – a women’s rights pioneer and a key figure in the story of British footwear brand Clarks.
In 1904 Alice became a life director of the family firm and one of the first women to serve as a director of a limited company in Britain – a notion that astonished the Bristol solicitor who drafted C&J Clark’s articles of incorporation. In this role Alice championed opportunities for women within the business.
In 1907 Alice refused to pay taxes as part of the women’s suffrage campaign, following the example of British-Australian suffragist and activist Dora Montefiore, who had barricaded herself inside her Hammersmith home for six weeks to resist bailiffs sent to seize her belongings for unpaid taxes. Their protest was rooted in the principle of “no taxation without representation” – that women should not be taxed while denied the right to vote.
She campaigned for women’s rights as secretary of the Street Women’s Liberal Association, served on the executive committee of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and founded the Friends League for Women’s Suffrage with her brother Roger in 1912.
Alice also made her mark as a historian, publishing “Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century” in 1919, a pioneering work of women’s social history exploring the often hidden contributions women made to the English economy and society during that period.
A powerful legacy of equality, progress and opportunity.
Discover more about the Clarks family’s philanthropy and dedication to equality and community in the One Love publication “From Somerset to the World: Clarks A Visual History 1825–2025” by Alexander Newman.
