A leading light in the suffragette movement and survivor of the Titanic has been honoured in her home town.

Elsie Bowerman was born in 1889 and lived with her parents in London Road, St Leonards.

She studied at Cambridge then joined a women's rights group, the Women's Social and Political Union, campaigning for the right to vote.

In 1912 Elsie and her mother spent £55 on first-class tickets for New York aboard the Titanic. They were among the 700 saved, rowed to safety aboard lifeboat six.

After the First World War she re-joined the women's rights movement as a member of the Women's Party and toured the country with Flora Drummond and Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst.

At 31 she became one of the first women barristers and the first to appear at the Old Bailey.

After three years working in America as a liaison officer for the BBC, she took a job for the United Nations and became Chief of the Division for the Advancement of Women.

On her retirement she bought a flat in Silchester Road, St Leonards, where she stayed at weekends. She died in 1973 at the age of 83.

A blue plaque was erected at the property last week.

Councillor Jay Kramer, Hastings Borough Council's portfolio holder for culture, said: "Elsie was an incredible campaigner and achieved a huge amount during her life. This is a very fitting way to remember her."