Our Fatima of Liverpool: The Story of Fatima Cates, the Victorian woman who helped found British Islam

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Wolffe, J. (1997). Religion in Victorian Britain: Culture and Empire V. 5. Manchester University Press: Manchester, UK During the first quarter of the 20th Century, it was estimated that there were about 10,000 Muslims in Britain

Unfortunately, the nascent community was viewed with suspicion by locals and faced ridicule, suffered physical abuse and numerous acts of vandalism upon their mosque. She said: "We did a re-enactment of Quilliam's conversion for an interfaith event a few years ago and I got asked to be Fatima. It really was literally just a paragraph I had to say, but I remember getting so into the role, it was really profound. I think it was at that point I really connected with this woman. Undaunted, the small cohort moved to a Georgian property on Brougham Terrace at the end of 1887 and set up England’s first recorded mosque. create a federation process pop up to remind users to update establishment governance when creating a federation This is the story of Fatima Elizabeth Cates, who is known to be the first female convert in Victorian England.Frances was a socially conscious, devout Christian, and become active in the Temperance movement which campaigned against the liquor trade and the social harms caused by alcohol. By the age of 19, she became the secretary of the Association of Prohibition of Alcohol in Birkenhead, a position which eventually led her to attend a public talk on “The great Arabian teetotaler” by the well-known Muslim convert William Henry (Abdullah) Quilliam.

I waited until the end of the meeting, and I then asked Mr Quilliam to tell me something more about this religion, as I was very much in doubt as to the true faith.

Prof Geaves said there remains “speculation” that Abdullah was the father of the child and “the circumstantial evidence points in that direction”. However, as content as the group were among themselves, they were viewed with suspicion by the wider community and faced regular abuse while attending meetings at a house on Mount Vernon Street.