Helena Paulina Shearer (née Downing; c. 1842 – 8 March 1885) was an Irish socialist and suffragist in England.
[4] In 1875 she was on the executive committee of Emma Paterson's Women's Protective and Provident League where her knowledge of employment legislation and women suffrage campaigning and a talent for public speaking was noted.
She also served the Vigilance Association for the Defence of Personal Rights and for the Amendment of the Law in points wherein it is Injurious to Women.
[5] The same year on 24 November she married an accountant, John Shearer, in Bradford, Yorkshire,[6] and she may well have served on the executive committee of the Married Women's Property Committee.
However the authorities refused her payment for rates which meant that she failed to qualify.