
These deeply powerful images of the Suffragettes have been brought to life in colour to mark the centenary of women winning the right to vote.

From devastating explosions to peaceful protests, the photographs capture the broad spectrum of activity undertaken by the group in their campaign for women's rights.

Originally printed in black and white, they have been colourised by professional photo colouriser and restorer Tom Marshall, from PhotographFix, who spent nearly a week on the images.

Among the most striking images is one of Emmeline Pankhurst, co-founder of the militant Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), whose members were the first to be christened Suffragettes, as she struggles against her arrest outside Buckingham Palace in 1914. She is also pictured with her daughter and WSPU co-founder, Christabel, and her other daughter, Slyvia, who was later expelled from the group over diverging political views.

They are joined on film by Millicent Fawcett, long-time president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (the NUWSS), who eschewed the WSPU's more militant tactics in favour of non-violent methods.

Both groups were instrumental in pushing the Government to pass the Representation of the People Act 1918. The Act, which was passed on February 6, 1918, granted voting rights to certain women over the age of 30. Ten years later, the age limit was lowered and the law changed to ensure women had the same rights as men.

Mr Marshall added: 'We have come a long way in the past 100 years and I've colourised these photos from the early 20th century to show how much of a struggle it was for the women then to get where they are today.'

Resistance: Emmeline Pankhurst, co-founder of the militant Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), whose members were the first to be christened Suffragettes, struggles as she is arrested by Superintendant Rolfe outside Buckingham Palace, while trying to present a petition to King George V in May 1914. She was instrumental in helping women win the vote in 1918

Defiant: Christabel Pankhurst, right, daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and co-founder of the WSPU, with Annie Kenney, a leading figure in the movement. The pair are pictured shortly after their arrest in 1905 when they were imprisoned for several days for assault and obstruction after heckling Sir Edward Grey at a Liberal rally in Manchester. The incident is credited with heralding a new phase in the struggle for women's suffrage and the adoption of more militant tactics by the WSPU

Determined: Suffragette Mabel Capper outside the former Bow Street Magistrates' Court in Westminster, London, in 1912. The activist dons the distinctive purple and green colours of the WSPU for the occasion. During her six-year stint with the group, Ms Capper was imprisoned six times, went on hunger strike and was one of the first suffragettes to be forcibly fed

Militant: A woman peers through a smashed window at the former HMP Holloway, London, following an explosion shortly before Christmas in 1913. The chief suspects in the blast were the Suffragettes staying at the safe house that backed onto the prison, although police were never able to prove a connection. HMP Holloway was where a number of Suffragettes were sent

Leaders: Emmeline Pankhurst, left, co-founder of the WSPU, in 1913. Right, Millicent Fawcett, president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (the NUWSS) between 1897 and 1919. A 'suffragist' rather than a 'suffragette', Fawcett believed in peaceful protest, writing thousands of letters and campaigning tirelessly for the rights of women throughout her life

Family: Emmeline Pankhurst, left, with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia, at Waterloo station on October 4, 1911, ahead of Emmeline's lecture tour of the US and Canada. Emmeline co-founded the WSPU with Christabel but Sylvia was expelled from the group in 1914 after she began to have disagreements with the route it was taking. She also wanted it to become an explicitly socialist organisation tackling wider issues than women's suffrage, and aligned with the Independent Labour Party

Division: A female munitions worker in a factory during the First World War. The war was a turning point in the history of women's suffrage. The WSPU called an immediate halt to their activism in support of the British government's war effort. Emmeline believed the 'German Peril' outweighed the need for women's suffrage. Unlike the Pankhursts, Milicent Fawcett's NUWSS, which counted more pacifists among its members and a less militant approach, did not cease its work for the war