She started behind a shop counter and ended up somewhere no woman in Britain had ever sat.
Her dad was a broke, self-taught lacemaker who loved engineering. What wild invention did he help design for a grand Victorian exhibition?
A flying machine William Bondfield's prototype aircraft went on show at the Great Exhibition of 1851, while his daughter Margaret would grow up poor in Chard, Somerset, and leave school at thirteen.
This women's rights champion refused to back the famous campaign to give women the vote 'on the same terms as men.' Who did she think it left out?
Working-class women Men's votes then depended on owning property, so Bondfield pushed instead for every adult to vote, which put her at odds with the militant suffragette leaders.
She spent her life fighting for workers, but as Minister of Labour she turned much of her own movement against her. What lifeline was she willing to cut?
Unemployment benefits In 1929 Bondfield became Britain's first female cabinet minister, but the economic crisis that sank the Labour government also wrecked her standing with its supporters.
Working up to 100 hours a week in a shop, she wrote secret articles at night by candlelight. What did she drape over the candle so no one would see?
A towel Writing as 'Grace Dare,' she later went undercover in shops to expose the cramped, dirty dorms where staff were forced to live above their workplaces.
As the first woman ever sent to Britain's big yearly union congress, she voted to create a new group. What major political party did it become?
The Labour Party That vote formed the Labour Representation Committee, and Bondfield went on to become the first woman to chair the whole Trades Union Congress.
