A FILM portraying the role a Swindon school teacher played in the struggle for women’s rights will grace the silver screens locally from today.

Played by Hollywood star Helena Bonham Carter, Highworth-born Edith New is portrayed as one of the leading characters, Edith Ellyn, in director Sarah Gavron’s film Suffragette.

Featuring a host of the world’s most well-respected actors including Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw and Romola Garai, the film, released on Wednesday, has already been praised for its gritty portrayal of the foot soldiers of the feminist movement in the early 20th century and their fight for women to be allowed to vote.

Bonham Carter, famous for roles in Alice in Wonderland, Fight Club, Harry Potter, the King’s Speech and Planet of the Apes, plays the plucky Swindon heroine, born in 1877, who abandoned teaching in the 1900s to work as an organiser and campaigner for the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).

To celebrate Edith and her role in creating a more gender equal society, a number of events and talks are scheduled throughout October organised by local historian Frances Bevan.

“In July 2015 the first publicity material was released for a new film called Suffragette,” said Frances.

“The fight for female enfranchisement had ended in 1928 when the final restrictions were removed and all women over the age of 21 received the vote; yet this is the first time the story has been told on the cinema screen.

“Since the early promotional material was released the film company has made a few amendments to the Helena Bonham Carter character, describing her as an amalgamation of several leading suffragettes of the time and renaming her Edith Ellyn.

“In advance of the film premiere Swindon Heritage and the Swindon Suffragette group, sponsored by AMCS – Total Analytical Specialists are staging a series of free events to tell the true story of Edith New.

“In 1908 Edith left teaching and became a paid organiser for the WSPU. She travelled the country, organising by-election campaigns and addressing meetings and demonstrations.

“She served several terms of imprisonment, most famously for breaking windows at number 10 Downing Street.”

On October 17 there will be a free guided walk around Edith’s home and where she worked in Swindon led by Frances, who writes swindonhistory.blogspot.co.uk, leaving from the Arts Centre in Devizes Road, Old Town at 11am