Jacob Bright suggested in 1871 that it would be useful to create a London-based organisation to lobby members of parliament concerning women's suffrage.
The Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage first met on 17 January 1872.
The first committee included Frances Power Cobbe, Priscilla Bright McLaren, Lilias Ashworth Hallett and Agnes Garrett.
The committee introduced a subscription fee of a shilling per annum.
Other committee members then included Helen Blackburn, Millicent Fawcett, Jessie Boucherett, Eva McLaren, Margaret Bright Lucas as well as Priscilla Bright McLaren and Frances Power Cobbe.