Eliza Wigham

Eliza Wigham was the secretary of the Edinburgh Ladies Emancipation Society, member of the executive committee of the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage, member of the executive committee of the Edinburgh National Women's Suffrage Society, and several other committees in this vein. She publicly protested against the Contagious Diseases Act which penalized prostitutes by subjecting them to humiliating medical examinations and incarcerating them in hospitals if they showed signs of venereal disease. Wigham was also a governor of the London School of Medicine for Women, member of the influential Ladies Edinburgh Debating Society, ran a penny savings bank for 40 years, and ran the Women's Working Society for Mothers' Meeting for 37 years. Wigham financially supported the work of Harriet Tubman in running the underground railroad for slaves in the United States.