Leeds housing estate set to be named after local suffragette and one of UK's first female magistrates

Miss Throp worked as an apprentice milliner before marrying Henry Cohen, a watchmaker and jeweller. Her mother. who worked as a seamstress, had been widowed with three young children when Leonora was just five.

She later stated that it was her “mother's lack of empowerment that radicalised her”. From 1909 to 1913 she was one of the prominent fighters for women’s suffrage, culminating in her being jailed twice, first in Holloway and then in Armley Jail, and ending up on hunger strike.

In 1923, she became the first woman president of the Yorkshire Federation of Trades Councils, in 1924 she was appointed as one of the first female magistrates in the country and in 1928 was awarded an OBE in recognition of her social work.

She lived out the rest of her life in Leeds, living to 105.

A blue plaque is also in place in her memory at her former home at Claremont Villas on Clarendon Road.Joanna Chambers, director of assets and growth at 54North Homes, said: “We wanted to recognise and celebrate an influential and inspiring Leeds born woman in the naming of the building. We chose Leonora Cohen whose grit and determination throughout her life paved the way for women’s rights of the future.”

Leonora House is being built on the site of the old Yorkshire Rider Social Club, on Railway Street, near Quarry House. Work began in Spring 2023 and is scheduled for completion in November 2024. The development comprises 28 one-bedroom, 25 two-bedroom and five three-bedroom apartments.

The £12 million scheme is the first new-build development to be built by affordable housing provider, 54North Homes*, which manages over 3,000 homes throughout Yorkshire. Funding has been provided by Homes England Strategic Partnership funding, Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, through its devolved Brownfield Housing Fund.