The tiny silver case which helped strike a huge blow for the women's suffrage movement

First film to really tell a story - The Great Train Robbery – appears in cinemas; the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, become the first to fly in a heavier-than-air machine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; the Daily Mirror hits the streets of Britain and the first motorised taxis appear in London.

Women, of course, did not have the right to vote in 1903, despite decades of peaceful persuasion.

The real fight for women's suffrage, however, began in that year, when Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughters Christabel, Sylvia and Adela, along with a small group of supporters based in Manchester, founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).

It aimed to "wake up the nation” to the cause of women's suffrage through "Deeds Not Words".

A long and painful fight it was too, involving riots, marches, beatings, arrests, imprisonment, hunger strikes, force-feeding and deaths, including that of Emily Davison, who ran out in front of George V's horse Anmer during the 1913 Derby.

The actions of the suffragettes resulted in major constitutional changes allowing limited votes for women in 1918 and to all over 21 with the passing of the Representation of the People Act in 1928 a few weeks after Emily Pankhurst's death.

A reminder of the grim struggle for equal voting rights surfaces at the Pavilions of Harrogate Decorative, Antiques and Art Fair at the Great Yorkshire Showground from June 14-16 in the form of a rare suffragette silver vesta case.

Made by William Neale in Chester in 1908, the case, in excellent condition, is engraved with the image of a smartly-dressed Edwardian lady bearing a placard emblazoned with the quaintly-worded slogan: HURRAH FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE. It is offered at £695 by silver specialist Mike Wilson of Highland Antiques, Aberdeen.

Plain silver vesta cases for housing "strike anywhere" matches, whose appearance followed that of the first successful friction match in 1826, may be picked up for £20-£30. But those commemorating historic events and elaborate specimens reflecting the status, wealth and personality of the owner are increasingly collectable.

As part of the essential dress code of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, they were adapted to hang from the watch chains of the wealthy male alongside accoutrements such as compasses, silver pencils, toothpick holders, lockets and sovereign cases.

As well as silver, vesta cases were made in a range of materials including Bakelite, enamel, copper, base metal and gold.

They came in all shapes and sizes, with now-desirable novelty examples in the shape of boots, horseshoes, suitcases, books, people, animal heads, birds, pigs - even a Huntley & Palmers biscuit!

The container takes its name from Vesta, Roman virgin goddess of fire, home, hearth and family. The association with fire made her name the natural choice for British companies making cases and matches - particularly the Swan brand launched in 1883 when the Collard & Kendall match company in Bootle on Merseyside introduced Swan wax matches.

These were superseded by later versions including Swan White Pine Vestas from the Diamond Match Company. Then shorter Swan Vestas - "the smoker's match" and Britain's best seller by the 30s - were launched in 1906 following the Bryant and May merger with Diamond Match.

The Harrogate antiques fair also features a fine and rare handmade Yorkshire "stickback" Windsor chair, circa 1800, made in ash, offered by Leonard Hadley of Kirkby Lonsdale-based country furniture specialists Dales Antiques at £2,950.

Although it's not clear where the first ones were made, High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire became famous the Windsor long before chairmakers migrated north to Yorkshire, where they produced their own versions in towns including Thirsk, Easingwold, Ripon and Knaresborough, as well as the city of York.

Made to last a lifetime, Windsors featured a specific design feature after wheelwrights started to make spindles for chairs in the same way they made wheel spokes and at a time when demand for a simple chair for everyday use was increasing.

The first chairs, made of yew, had straight comb backs but after a method of steam-bending wood was developed the first bow-back Windsor chairs, such as the stickback, appeared. One design is known as the Oliver Goldsmith Windsor armchair, named after one owned by the author of The Vicar of Wakefield.

Also on offer in an original signed and hand-coloured limited edition etching by Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dali (1904-1989), Le Judgement de Paris, from his Mythologie Suite depicting the classical story of the Judgement of Paris and consisting of 16 engravings released from 1963-1965 Price: £3,250.