Suffragettes Suffragettes Explore a new resource that looks at the campaigning techniques of the suffragists and suffragettes. The Suffragettes The suffragists failed to achieve votes for women by peaceful methods. Many women began to advocate a more militant approach. These groups became known as the suffragettes. Their motto was 'Deeds not Words'. In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia. The WSPU adopted militant tactics. They chained themselves to railings, disrupted public meetings and damaged public property. In 1913, Emily Davison was killed throwing herself under the King's horse at the Derby. Suffragettes were arrested and imprisoned, but continued their protest in prison by hunger strike. Although initially they were fed by force, in 1913 the Prisoners Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health Act was passed in Parliament. Commonly known as the Cat and Mouse Act, this allowed prison authorities to release hunger-striking women prisoners when they became too weak, and re-arrest them when they had recovered. Emmeline Pankhurst was jailed and released on 11 occasions.

When the First World War broke out in 1914 the suffragettes and suffragists stopped their campaign in support of the government's war effort. In 1918 - after the war - women were given limited voting rights. Talked Out! General History of Women’s Suffrage in Britain | The Independent General History of Women’s Suffrage in Britain Monday 27 May 2013 23:01 BST Click to follow The Independent Online This mostly covers events of the 20th century. One of the most important aspects of women’s suffrage in Britain was the sheer number of organisations established in favour of women’s suffrage and the factionalised nature of the movement. Although diversity of opinion tended to be in action (pacifist vs. militant), rather than party allegiance (Fawcett said “women’s suffrage had never been a party question”), many groups in favour of women’s suffrage were also politically aligned to certain parties, or other campaigns. Both Parliament UK and the British Library claim that there were seventeen societies in favour of suffrage for women that came together in the late 19th century to form the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies.

Parliament UK claims they united in 1897, the British Library claims 1887, although this appears to be an error on the part of the British Library website, as all other sources consulted say 1897. Parliament UK also claims that “by 1913 nearly five hundred regional suffrage societies had joined, making the NUWSS a most influential alliance.” The following list I have compiled gives a good guidance as to the vast number of groups in support of (if not solely dedicated to) women’s suffrage in Britain in the late 19th and early 20th century. Below are the founding dates of some of the more prominent of these groups.

In 1851, the Sheffield Female Political Association was formed and brought a petition in support of enfranchising women to the House of Lords In 1865, the Kensington Society was founded as a discussion space for supporters of enfranchising women In 1867, the Manchester Suffrage Committee was founded (a precedent for Manchester’s pivotal role in the suffrage movement) Also in 1867, the Kensington Society became the London National Society for Women’s Suffrage In 1871/2 the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage was established In 1883, the Primrose League (a Conservative group) were established In 1886 the Women’s Liberal Federation was formed In 1889, the Women’s Franchise League was formed In 1897, the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was established (three years later their leader would be Millicent Garret Fawcett) In 1903, the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) was formed by Emmeline Pankhurst In 1906, the National Federation of Women Workers is established

 Interestingly, Millicent Garrett Fawcett cites party-affiliated women’s suffrage organisations (such as the Primrose League and the Women’s Liberal Federation) as essential to the fight to enfranchise women: “the organised political work of women has grown since 1884, and has become so valuable that none of the parties can afford to do without it or to alienate it.” It is also important to note that women’s suffrage in Britain did not leap from no voting rights at all to full suffrage, but that there were many bills taken to parliament and many small gains ahead of the 1918 declaration of suffrage for women, and then the declaration of full suffrage for women in 1928.

These included: The year 1880 saw suffrage granted to women on the Isle of Man, at first to women “freeholders” and then, a few years’ later, extended to include women “householders”. At the 1884 carrying of the Reform Bill, efforts were made to include women’s suffrage in the extension of franchise to agricultural labourers. However, it was rejected, although notably not by a unanimous ‘no’ from the House: although Fawcett calls it a “crushing defeat”, it may surprise people today to learn that it lost by 135 votes to 271. A petition of 37,000 signatures demanding the enfranchisement of women, which was taken to parliament by a group of women’s textile workers from Northern counties of England in 1902 In 1907 the Qualification of Women Act rules that women can be elected to the positions of mayor, and onto borough and county councils Prominent aspects of the fight for women’s suffrage in Britain Suffragists and Suffragettes The Suffragists and the Suffragettes are two very different, and often very divided movements.

The suffragists was the broader term referring to the supporters of suffrage for women, more specifically the members of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), formed in 1897 and led for the majority by Millicent Garrett Fawcett. NUWSS aimed to achieve enfranchisement for women by peaceful and legal means, such as bringing petitions and Bills to parliament, and distributing literature for their Cause. NUWSS was growing constantly, bringing in large membership figures, but in 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst, frustrated at the lack of progress made in getting women the vote, along with her daughters Sylvia, Christabel and Adela, established the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), the members of which became known as the suffragettes (around 1906, after a Daily Mail article coined the phrase). Dora Montefiore noted that the WSPU “revolted against the inertia and conventionalism which seemed to have fastened upon...

the NUWSS”, and certainly its aims were to employ more militant, public, and illegal tactics, although moreso after 1905 when it was clear media interest in the fight for suffrage was waning. Their motto was ‘Deeds not Words’, and, unlike the majority of other groups in support of women’s suffrage, they refused to join NUWSS. They also strived for women to be able to vote on the same par with men, as opposed to full unconditional suffrage for women. Ada Nield Chew wrote to The Clarion in 1904, criticising this policy, because “the entire class of wealthy women would be enfranchised, that the great body of working women, married or single, would be voteless still”, but to many suffragettes it was simply the only realistic aim. It was at a meeting in October 1905, during which Christabel and Annie Kenney repeatedly shouted ‘will the Liberal government give votes to women?’ over the top of a speech by Sir Edward Grey, then assaulted police officers when asked to leave, that the first arrests were made in the name of suffrage for women.

There were great issues of class within WSPU, for, although they worked in conjunction with the Independent Labour Party, it has been noted that (increasingly under Christabel’s leadership) the movement found Cause with middle class, rather than working class women. Again, it is important to note the idea that they fought for equal votes to that of men, who had themselves yet to receive full suffrage, and it was a deeply class-ridden issue. The Pankhursts The founders of WSPU and by far the most famed of all women working towards suffrage in the 19th and 20th century were Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, particularly Christabel and Syliva. From these women come many of the best first-hand accounts of the movement, two of which are cited in this research. Leadership was an important issue in WSPU, dictating their stance, militant actions and publications at the time (for example, Christabel’s leadership saw their publication The Suffragette lauding the advantages of secret arson – although the militant nature of WSPU meant Christabel’s leadership was plagued by freelance militancy she struggled to control).

The Pankhursts suffered a family split in 1913, when Adela and Sylvia were dismissed from WSPU, Sylvia for her participation in the East London Federation of Suffragettes. This rift was never solved, with Emmeline even publicly declaring that she “strongly repudiate[d]” Sylvia’s political actions. Hunger Striking and Force Feeding During their imprisonments, suffragettes underwent hunger strikes in protest. The iron resolution of the women during the hunger strikes was renowned, even though delicious and often quite decadent food (“food such as I had never before seen”) was brought to and left in the cell with the prisoners to tempt them. Prisoners would lose serious amounts of weight in prison (Davison claimed she “lost 1½ stone” after 124 hours of fasting during one of her imprisonments). The government’s response to these hunger strikes was to force feed the prisoners; a practice of which, admittedly, I did not realise the full “barbaric” and brutal nature until this research.

Indeed, Christabel Pankhurst said that, “from the moment that women had consented to prison, hunger-strikes, and forcible feeding as the price of the vote, the vote really was theirs”. Morley and Stanley, Davison’s biographers rightly point out that forcible feeding was so awful that “anyone who has read a description of forcible feeding by one of the women who underwent it, such as Sylvia Pankhurst’s well-known account, and has any empathy or imagination at all, will reject with disgust the government’s argument that forcible feeding was not dangerous and was carried out for caring reasons and in a caring spirit only.” Emily Davison’s “suicide attempt” in the Holloway prison was known to have been enacted in the hope of escaping forcible feeding, and, having read various accounts of the horror of having a “steel or a wooden gag” forced into the mouth so that one’s jaws were “forced painfully wide”, a large tube put down your throat and food poured down it (which many vomited back up), ideas of this being some sort of extreme or unbalanced action vanish (C. Pankhurst).

Perhaps the most famous account of the force feeding was written by Sylvia Pankhurst, an extract of which reads as follows; “My gums, when they prised them open, were always sore and bleeding, with bits of loose, jagged flesh... sometimes the tube was coughed up three or four times before they finally got it down. Sometimes, but not often – I was generally too much agitated by then – I felt the tube go right down into the stomach; a sickening, terrifying sensation, especially when it reached the breast. My shoulders were bruised, my back ached during the night... Infinitely worse than the pain was the sense of degradation” Lady Constance Lytton, who regularly escaped the horrendous ordeal of force feeding due to a health condition, set out to prove that it was only because she was of upper class status that her condition was taken into account ahead of force feeding. She was arrested in disguise as a working class woman ‘Jane Warton’, and, true to her suspicions, believing her to be working class, the prison authorities neither performed a full medical examination of her, nor took her heart condition into account.

Cat and Mouse Act In order to combat this inconvenience of having to release the women, the government introduced the infamous ‘Cat and Mouse Act’ in 1913. The Act’s official name, the ‘Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act’ highlights its major purpose: to facilitate the re-arrest of suffragettes after they had recuperated from their ‘illness’ from hunger-striking. They also moved to drop force-feeding within this Act, the policy being instead to wait until the hunger-striker under arrest was at a critical stage of weakness (not force feeding them as before), before releasing them to get back to health, and (they thought) re-arrest them afterwards, although this proved far harder to enact than the government had anticipated. The Act effectively meant that the government could shirk responsibility of any harm done to the suffragettes in jail, by hunger-strike for example, including death (the Home Secretary at the time is reported as having said, “let the prisoners die”).

The nickname ‘Cat and Mouse Act’ highlights the move around that time to sympathy for the suffragettes, who the public perceived as being cruelly played with by the government in the countless re-arrests and poor treatment of the women, much as a cat would torture a mouse. The Act was “a statutory memorial” of the government’s “lamentable treatment of women”, and it is credited with at least part of the Liberal party’s decline in popularity in the early 20th century. Militancy I have mostly covered militancy within the more extensive research into Emily Wilding Davison, including the various acts of militancy (bombings, arson and stone-throwing), although: a word on the first militant acts, of chaining themselves to railings. I was surprised to learn (although I feel I should have suspected) that, upon chaining themselves to railings of various public buildings, as they regularly did in some of their early acts of militancy, the suffragettes suffered sexual assault at the hands of men of the public and police.

Sylvia Pankhurst says of Black Friday also that many women were “subjected to ill-usage” and that “the cry went round: ‘Be careful; they are dragging women down the side streets!’ We knew this always meant greater ill-usage”. It should also be noted, that, alongside the more “violent” militancy (roughly post-1912), there were many large-scale rallies, two of the most important of which were the 1908 and 1913 rallies in Hyde Park. 250,000 people attended in 1908. Much has been made of the difference between public perception of female militants and male militants. The suffragettes were held to blame for men’s actions in assaulting them: “Women’s claims [to the right to vote] were justified and the action they wanted to take was perfectly reasonable; what was unjustified and unreasonable were the reactions of men (who often seized the opportunity to punch and kick and claw and also to sexually assault with impunity)... It is interesting that in criticisms of violence it is the WSPU women who are effectively blamed for men’s violence towards them”.

The women chaining themselves to railings were deemed “silly”, to which Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence replied, “doing something silly is the woman’s alternative to doing something cruel. The effect is the same. We use no violence because we can win freedom without it; because we have discovered an alternative”. It was also argued by many suffragettes, Sylvia included, that the punishment did not tend to fit the crime, “it was a scandal four of us should be serving five months in all for [breaking] one little £3 window; that the Government had had their pound of flesh, and far, far more, oh, far, far more.” Slashing the Rokeby Venus Mary Richardson entered the National Gallery in 1914 with a meat cleaver and slashed the famous painting known as the Rokeby Venus.

She said of her actions, “I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history.” Black Friday On the 18th of November 1910, the Conciliation Bill was due to be brought before the House of Commons, which argued for extension of franchise to women. A ninth “Women’s Parliament” was assembling in Caxton Hall at the time, and Sylvia Pankhurst notes Asquith “left the House without [discussing leaving time for the Conciliation Bill before dissolution of Parliament]”. Around three hundred women headed to Parliament, where unfolded “scenes of unexampled violence”, including the sexual assaults I referenced above.

Sylvia Pankhurst reports that 115 women were arrested “on “Black Friday” as the day was afterwards named”, and two women died: Cecilia Haig “died in December, 1911, after a painful illness, arising from her injuries” and Henria Williams, who, “already suffering from a weak heart, did not recover from the treatment she received that night in the Square, and died on January 1st.” WWI – 1914 WWI saw the temporary winding-down of the suffrage movements, which Sylvia (having by this point been ousted from WSPU) notes as a quiet but rapid change of tack: “militancy was no more. The Suffragette of August 7th, 1914, contained an appeal from Christabel: ‘Women of the WSPU. We must protect our Union through everything... for the same of the human race... women must be free’. Next week the Suffragette failed to appear. Mrs.

Pankhurst issued a statement through the Press that militancy would be rendered ‘less effective’ by contrast with the greater violence of the war, that work for the vote on the lines of peaceful argument being, ‘as we know, futile’, the Union would suspend activities. Money and energy would thus be saved, and ‘an opportunity’ given to ‘recuperate after the tremendous strain and suffering of the past two years’.” She also notes that the NUWSS suffered greatly from the war, dividing its ranks into the majority (under Fawcett) who dropped their work for women’s suffrage to support the war effort, and the ‘Women’s Active Service Crops’ who formed the British section of the ‘Women’s International League’. WSPU, in the meantime, dropped nearly all of its suffrage work, focusing completely on the war, even changing the name of the Suffragette to Britannia. However, the WSPU made a resurgence in support of the National Register war work and compulsory national service for women, alongside Lloyd George.

The nationalist work of many of the suffrage groups during the war greatly helped their cause, and it was during the war that Asquith made his declaration of allegiance to enfranchising women (1916). Moves had already been made to include women’s suffrage in parliamentary bills before the declaration of armistice, and the WSPU were pivotal in lauding the benefits of votes for women coming “in war time. If it did, women would work with greater energy, enthusiasm and patriotism for the security of their native land”. Women gain the vote – 1918 The Representation of the People Act granted women over 30 the right to vote, as long as they were married to or a member of Local Government Register. It also extended men’s suffrage to the right for all men to vote over the age of 21, and abolished most property qualifications for men. Women gain full suffrage – 1928 Women were granted suffrage equal to men in 1928 under the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise Act) 1928. The age for women to vote was lowered to 21, and property qualifications reduced to the same as men, at this point barely notable.

Suffragette | Wiki | Everipedia × Want to change something on this page or create your own? Register today, it's fast and free. Suffragette Copy URL Embed / Widget Suffragettes were members of women's organisations in the late-19th and early-20th centuries which advocated the extension of the " franchise ", or the right to vote in public elections, to women. It particularly refers to militants in the United Kingdom such as members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Suffragist is a more general term for members of the suffrage movement. The term "suffragette" is particularly associated with activists in the British WSPU, led by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst , who were influenced by Russian methods of protest such as hunger strikes . Although the Isle of Man had enfranchised women who owned property to vote in parliamentary (Tynwald) elections in 1881, New Zealand was the first self-governing country to grant all women the right to vote in 1893 when women over the age of 21 were permitted to vote in parliamentary elections.

Women in South Australia achieved the same right and became the first to obtain the right to stand for parliament in 1895. In the United States, white women over the age of 21 were allowed to vote in the western territories of Wyoming from 1869 and in Utah from 1870, but by 1903 women in Britain had still not been enfranchised and Emmeline Pankhurst had decided the movement would have to become radical and militant if it was going to be effective. The campaign became increasingly bitter with property damage and hunger strikes being countered by the authorities with gaoling and force feeding, until it was suspended due to the outbreak of war in 1914. Women in Britain over the age of 30, meeting certain property qualifications, were given the right to vote in 1918, and in 1928 suffrage was extended to all women over the age of 21. Opinion amongst historians today is divided as to whether the militant tactics of the suffragettes helped or hindered their cause Origins British suffragettes were mostly women from upper and middle-class backgrounds, frustrated by their social and economic situation.

Their struggles for change within society, along with the work of such advocates for women's rights as John Stuart Mill , were enough to spearhead a movement that would encompass mass groups of women fighting for suffrage. Mill introduced the idea of women's suffrage on the platform he presented to the British electorate in 1865. He was subsequently joined by numerous men and women fighting for the same cause. The term "suffragette" was first used as a term of derision by the journalist Charles E. Hands in the London Daily Mail to describe activists in the movement for women's suffrage , in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). But the women he intended to ridicule embraced the term saying "suffraGETtes" (hardening the g) implied not only that they wanted the vote, but that they intended to get it. The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies , founded in 1897, was formed from local suffrage societies. The union was led by Millicent Fawcett , who believed in constitutional campaigning, issuing leaflets, organising meetings and presenting petitions but the campaign had little effect.

In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded a new organisation, the Women's Social and Political Union. She thought the movement would have to become radical and militant if it was going to be effective. The Daily Mail gave them the name "Suffragettes". Some radical techniques used by the suffragettes, especially hunger strikes, were learned from Russian exiles from tsarism who had escaped to England. Many suffragists at the time, and most historians since, have argued that the actions of the militant suffragettes damaged their cause. Opponents at the time saw evidence that women were too emotional and couldn't think as logically as men. Early twentieth century in the UK Memorial edition of The Suffragette newspaper dedicated to Emily Davison From 1909, the 'Pank-A-Squith' board game was sold by the WSPU to raise awareness of their campaign and raise money. The board game is set out in a spiral, and players must lead their suffragette figure from their home to parliament, past the obstacles faced from Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and the Liberal government.

The People's History Museum in Manchester has a 'Pank-A-Squith' board game on display in the main galleries and replica version for visitors to play. 7 October 1913 1912 was a turning point for the British suffragettes as they turned to using more militant tactics , chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to post box contents, smashing windows and occasionally detonating bombs. In 1914, at least seven churches were bombed or set on fire across the United Kingdom, including an explosion in Westminster Abbey aimed at destroying the 700-year-old Coronation Chair , which notwithstanding its proximity to the bomb, survived with only minor damage. One suffragette, Emily Davison , died under the King 's horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby of 4 June 1913. It is debated whether she was trying to pin a "Votes for Women" banner on the King's horse or not. Many of her fellow suffragettes were imprisoned and refused food as a scare tactic against the government. The Liberal government of the day led by Asquith responded with the Cat and Mouse Act .

An Additional prominent British Suffragette, Sophia Duleep Singh was almost forgotten for 70 years. Imprisonment Emmeline Pankhurst was the most prominent of Britain's suffragettes. In the early-20th century until the First World War, approximately one thousand suffragettes were imprisoned in Britain. Most early incarcerations were for public order offences and failure to pay outstanding fines. The first suffragettes to be imprisoned were Christabel Pankhurst (daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst) and Annie Kenney in October 1905. While incarcerated, suffragettes lobbied to be considered political prisoners; with such a designation, suffragettes would be placed in the First Division as opposed to the Second or Third Division of the prison system, and as political prisoners would be granted certain freedoms and liberties not allotted to additional prison divisions, such as being allowed frequent visits and being allowed to write books or articles. Because of a lack of consistency between the different courts, suffragettes wouldn't necessarily be placed in the First Division and can be placed in Second or Third Division, which enjoyed fewer liberties.

This cause was taken up by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a large organisation in Britain, that lobbied for women's suffrage led by militant suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst . The WSPU campaigned to get imprisoned suffragettes recognised as political prisoners. Notwithstanding this campaign was largely unsuccessful. Citing a fear that the suffragettes fitting political prisoners would make for easy martyrdom, and with thoughts from the courts and the Home Office that they were abusing the freedoms of First Division to further the agenda of the WSPU, suffragettes were placed in Second Division, and in a few cases the Third Division, in prisons with no special privileges granted to them as a result. Arson, Property damage and domestic terrorism Throughout the woman's suffrage movement, a large number of tactics were employed in order to achieve the goals of the movement. Throughout Britain, letters and the letterboxes that contained them were burnt or had acid poured onto them. Places that wealthy people, typically men, would occupy themselves with were additionally burnt and destroyed, including cricket pitches and horse racing tracks.

The Tea House at Kew Gardens was set alight by Suffragettes Olive Wharry and Lillian Lenton in February 1913 throughout a series of arson attacks that occurred throughout London. Suffragettes are additionally believed to have attacked the Orchard house, additionally at Kew Gardens however no definitive proof was found. Hunger strikes Suffragettes were refused the right to be recognised as political prisoners and a large number of of them staged hunger strikes while they were imprisoned. The first woman to refuse food was Marion Wallace Dunlop , a militant suffragette who was sentenced to a month in Holloway for vandalism in July 1909. Without consulting suffragette leaders such as Pankhurst, Dunlop refused food in protest at being denied political prisoner status. After a 91-hour hunger strike, and for fear of her fitting a martyr, the Home Secretary Herbert Gladstone decided to release her early on medical grounds. Dunlop's strategy was adopted by additional suffragettes who were incarcerated. It became common practise for suffragettes to refuse food in protest for not being designated as political prisoners, and as a result they would be released after a few days and could return to the "fighting line".

After a public backlash regarding the prison status of suffragettes, the rules of the divisions were amended. In March 1910, Rule 243A was introduced by the Home Secretary Winston Churchill , allowing prisoners in Second and Third Divisions to be allowed certain privileges of the First Division, provided they weren't convicted of a serious offence, effectively ending hunger strikes for two years. Hunger strikes began again when Pankhurst was transferred from the Second Division to the First Division, inciting the additional suffragettes to demonstrate regarding their prison status. Militant suffragette demonstrations subsequently became more aggressive, and the British Government took action. Unwilling to release all the suffragettes refusing food in prison, in the autumn of 1909, the authorities began to adopt more drastic measures to manage the hunger-strikers. Force-feeding Poster by 'A Patriot', showing a suffragette prisoner being force-fed, 1910. In September 1909, the Home Office became unwilling to release hunger-striking suffragettes before their sentence was served. Suffragettes became a liability because if they were to die in custody, the prison would be responsible for their death.

Prisons began the practise of force-feeding the hunger strikers through a tube, most commonly via a nostril or stomach tube or a stomach pump. Force-feeding had previously been practised in Britain but its use had been exclusively for patients in hospitals who were too unwell to eat or swallow food. Despite the practise being deemed safe by medical practitioners for sick patients, it posed health issues for the healthy suffragettes. Memories of Winson Green Sep eighteenth 1909 ; Illustration from Mabel Cappers WSPU prisoners scrapbook The process of tube-feeding was strenuous without the consent of the hunger strikers, who were typically strapped down and force-fed via stomach or nostril tube, often with a considerable amount of force. The process was painful and after the practise was observed and studied by several physicians, it was deemed to cause both short-term damage to the circulatory system, digestive system and nervous system and long-term damage to the physical and mental health of the suffragettes. Some suffragettes who were force-fed developed pleurisy or pneumonia as a result of a misplaced tube.

Legislation In April 1913, Reginald McKenna of the Home Office passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 , or the Cat and Mouse Act as it was commonly known. The act made the hunger strikes legal, in that a suffragette would be temporarily released from prison when their health began to diminish, only to be readmitted when she regained her health to finish her sentence. The act enabled the British Government to be absolved of any blame resulting from death or harm due to the self-starvation of the striker and ensured that the suffragettes would be too ill and too weak to participate in demonstrative activities while not in custody. Most women continued hunger striking when they were readmitted to prison following their leave. After the Act was introduced, force-feeding on a large scale was stopped and only women convicted of more serious crimes and considered likely to repeat their offences if released were force-fed. The Bodyguard In early 1913 and in response to the "Cat and Mouse Act" the WSPU instituted a society of women known as the "Bodyguard" whose role was to physically protect Emmeline Pankhurst and additional prominent suffragettes from arrest and assault.

Known members included Katherine Willoughby Marshall and Gertrude Harding ; Edith Margaret Garrud was their jujutsu trainer. Members of the "Bodyguard" participated in several violent actions against the police in defence of their leaders. The origin of the "Bodyguard" can be traced to a WSPU meeting at which Garrud spoke. As suffragettes speaking in public increasingly found themselves the target of violence and attempted assaults, teaching jujutsu was a way for women to defend themselves against angry hecklers. Incidents including Black Friday , at which 200 suffragettes were assaulted by police, served to illustrate the need for militant women to be able to defend themselves against male violence. World War At the commencement of the First World War, the suffragette movement in Britain moved away from suffrage activities and focused their efforts on the war effort, and as a result, hunger strikes largely stopped. In August 1914, the British Government released all prisoners who had been incarcerated for suffrage activities on an amnesty, with Pankhurst ending all militant suffrage activities soon after.

The suffragettes' focus on war work turned public opinion in favour of their eventual partial enfranchisement in 1918. Women eagerly volunteered to take on a large number of traditional male roles – leading to a new view of what women were capable of. The war additionally caused a split in the British suffragette movement; the mainstream, represented by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst's WSPU calling a ceasefire in their campaign for the duration of the war, while more radical suffragettes, represented by Sylvia Pankhurst 's Women's Suffrage Federation continued the struggle. The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, which had always employed "constitutional" methods, continued to lobby throughout the war years and compromises were worked out between the NUWSS and the coalition government. On 6 February, the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, enfranchising women over the age of 30 who met minimum property qualifications as well as men over 21 – before this not all British men were enfranchised. About 8.4 million women gained the vote.

In November 1918, the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 was passed, allowing women to be elected into parliament. The Representation of the People Act 1928 extended the voting franchise to all women over the age of 21, granting women the vote on the same terms that men had gained ten years earlier. Legacy !9 year old Fay Hubbard selling suffragette papers in New York, 1910 Historians generally argue that the first stage of the militant suffragette movement under the Pankhursts in 1906 had a dramatic mobilising effect on the suffrage movement. Women were thrilled and supportive of an actual revolt in the streets; the membership of the militant WSPU and the older NUWSS overlapped and was mutually supportive. However a system of publicity, Ensor argues, had to continue to escalate to maintain its high visibility in the media. The hunger strikes and force-feeding did that. However the Pankhursts refused any advice and escalated their tactics. They turned to systematic disruption of Liberal Party meetings as well as physical violence in terms of damaging public buildings and arson.

Searle says the methods of the suffragettes did succeed in damaging the Liberal party but failed to advance the cause of women's suffrage. When the Pankhursts decided to stop the militancy at the start of the war, and enthusiastically support the war effort, the movement split and their leadership's role ended. Suffrage did come four years later, but the feminist movement in Britain permanently abandoned the militant tactics that had made the suffragettes famous. Whitfield concludes that the militant campaign had a few positive effects in terms of attracting enormous publicity, and forcing the moderates to better organise themselves, while additionally stimulating the organisation of the antis. He concludes: The overall effect of the suffragette militancy, however, was to set back the cause of women's suffrage. For women to gain the right to vote it was necessary to demonstrate that they had public opinion on their side, to build and consolidate a parliamentary majority in favour of women's suffrage and to persuade or pressure the government to introduce its own franchise reform. None of these objectives was achieved.

Colours Pendant presented to Louise Eates in 1909 From 1908, the WSPU adopted the colour scheme of violet, white and green: purple symbolised dignity, white purity, and green hope. These three colours were used for banners, flags, rosettes and badges, They additionally would carry heart shaped vesta cases , and appeared in newspaper cartoons and postcards. Mappin & Webb , the London jewellers, issued a catalogue of suffragette jewellery for Christmas 1908. In 1909 the WSPU presented specially commissioned pieces of jewellery to leading suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst and Louise Eates. Some Arts and Crafts jewellery of the period incorporated the colours violet, white and green using enamel and semi-precious stones such as amethysts , pearls , and peridots . However jewellery that incorporated these stones was already quite common in women's jewellery throughout the late 19th century, before 1903 and couldn't be connected with the suffragettes, before the WSPU adopted the colours.

Also, it is a popular myth that the colours were green, white, and violet, to spell GWV as an acronym for "Give Women Votes". The colours of green and heliotrope (purple) were commissioned into a new coat of arms for Edge Hill University in 2006, symbolising the University's early commitment to the equality of women through its beginnings as a women-only college. Popular culture Suffragettes | Suffrajitsu “Suffragette” reviewed from the Suffrajitsu perspective Suffragette is literally the first feature film to offer a dramatic representation of the radical women’s suffrage movement in England. As the movie has already been extensively reviewed elsewhere , and because this is Suffrajitsu.com, this review will concentrate on those areas where the plot intersects with motifs and events also represented in the Suffrajitsu graphic novel trilogy. Most especially, we’ll focus on the events of Suffrajitsu Issue #1, which is closely based on the real history of the Bodyguard team who were assigned to protect members of the Women’s Social and Political Union from arrest and assault.

Before diving in to the review, however, we should address the “whitewashing” controversy that has arisen in the wake of the film’s opening, especially in the USA. Some critics have conflated the demographics of the American and English suffrage movements and thereby jumped to the conclusion that the Suffragette filmmakers are guilty of having misrepresented racial diversity. In reality, according to the very best historical records available, only two women of color are known to have been counted among the English suffragettes. One was a famous Sikh princess named Sophia Duleep Singh, who was a god-daughter of Queen Victoria’s and who is to be the subject of an upcoming filmed biography; the other was a friend of Singh’s who was more peripherally involved in the radical movement. It’s possible that, given the degree to which the “whitewashing” controversy has hijacked popular and critical discourse concerning Suffragette, writer Abi Morgan and director Sarah Gavron are now regretting not having included Princess Sophia in their story. However, it is irresponsible for critics to casually assume that there “must have been” a large contingent of women of color who were callously not represented in the film.

There was, in fact, great diversity within the English women’s suffrage movement, but it was a diversity of social classes at a time when London was racially homogeneous to a degree that would deeply startle people who only know the modern city. That noted, the film introduces protagonist Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan), a 24 year old East End laundress whose only joy in life is her family – husband Sonny (Ben Whishaw) and young son George (Adam Michael Dodd). Maud was born in the laundry; her mother died there when Maud was a young girl, the victim of an industrial accident, and Maud herself now bears the scars of a lifetime’s labor in that dangerous environment. The first major action scene takes place near the beginning of the story. Maud is sent by her boorish boss to deliver a package in the central city and finds herself accidentally caught up in one of the radical suffragettes’ mass shop window-smashing protests.

The scene accurately captures the “Argument of the Broken Pane”, including shocked spectators and the police pursuit of fleeing protesters, as is also represented in Suffrajitsu Issue #1: Reluctantly at first, the previously apolitical Maud finds herself drawing closer to the radical movement. After Maud is induced to give her testimony before a committee of politicians who are considering the suffrage question, she and her new comrades then gather outside Parliament and are bitterly disappointed to learn that women will not be granted the vote. The police then violently disperse the suffragette crowd, striking women down with their truncheons and dragging them off to prison. The level of violence depicted is on the very extreme end of the scale of reported police action against suffragette protesters. The impression given is that the police assault was virtually unprovoked; this scene may have been inspired by the infamous “Black Friday” riot of 1910 . That said, the riot scene also tends to reinforce the modern misconception that women were arrested simply for being suffragettes, which was not the case. Militant suffragettes were, in fact, arrested because they had committed crimes, ranging from vandalism and assault to sedition.

In response to the politicians’ latest failure to grant suffrage, Maud and her comrades, including the militant suffragette insurgent Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter), become more committed and more organized. The point is effectively made that, since forty years of peaceful petitioning has failed to gain women the right to vote, radical tactics will now be required. Meanwhile, police Inspector Arthur Steed (Brendan Gleeson) assumes responsibility for monitoring and attempting to contain the women’s rights movement. In a very brief training scene, Maud is shown taking part in Mrs. Ellyn’s jiujitsu class; a reference to the “Suffragette Self Defence” courses actually run by Edith Garrud during this period. Helena Bonham Carter has confirmed that her character was partly inspired by Edith Garrud and that more extensive jiujitsu scenes were shot, but did not make it into the final cut of the movie. The women then attend a secret rally and speech by WSPU leader Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep, in an effectively stirring cameo). Mrs.

Pankhurst is, by this stage, a fugitive from the law, and her escape from the police after the rally – involving the clever use of a body double, allowing the real Mrs. Pankhurst to escape by cab – is clearly based on a real-life strategy also represented in Suffrajitsu #1: Gratifyingly, Maud and Edith are among a small party who form an informal bodyguard for Mrs. Pankhurst as she escapes, successfully running interference against the police. The women also engage in a campaign of bombing attacks – strictly against property, rather than risking human lives. They target post boxes to disrupt the communication system, and escalate to destroying the under-construction home of a Member of Parliament. This action, however, results in the two of them being imprisoned again, and this time they go on hunger strike and are subjected to forced feeding – events that, in real history, directly led to the formation of the WSPU Bodyguard team. The tactic of hunger striking was extremely controversial. Prisons were considered to have an ethical duty of care towards preserving the lives of inmates, so they had no choice but to force feed those who starved themselves.

Politicians recognized that, if an imprisoned suffragette died, the women’s suffrage movement would gain its first martyr; the WSPU, meanwhile, successfully represented forced feeding as being akin to torture. Thus, both sides became engaged in a dangerous propaganda battle for the hearts and minds of the British public. Although not portrayed in the movie, this high-stakes situation led to the institution of the so-called Cat and Mouse Act; an unprecedented amendment to the law that allowed prisons to release hunger striking suffragettes until they had recovered their health and strength, at which point they would be re-arrested and re-imprisoned on the original charge. That policy led the WSPU to create the Bodyguard society, in order to keep fugitive suffragettes free for as long as possible. Maud’s increasing radicalism comes at a very heavy personal cost. Her husband uneasily tolerates her political action at first, but succumbs to shame when she is imprisoned and effectively bans her from their home, also cutting off her access from their son.

Eventually, in one heart-wrenching scene, Maud learns that Sonny has arranged for young George to be adopted by another couple; she has no say in the matter, underscoring the very inequalities that she has been fighting to change. As a result, Maud becomes even more committed to the radical cause. It’s worth mentioning here that, to the filmmakers’ credit, neither Sonny nor Inspector Steed are portrayed as villains (though Maud’s laundry boss represents the worst of bullying, predatory male chauvinism). Sonny is basically a pitiable character, a naive young man whose simple inability to understand how or why his wife is changing dooms their family to tragedy, whereas the more sophisticated Steed clearly has some sympathy with, and even admiration for Maud’s convictions. Edith Ellyn’s husband, meanwhile, is a staunch “suffragent”, a progressive man who supports his wife and her political cause. In the climactic scene, suffragette Emily Wilding Davison is struck down by a charging horse while attempting to protest “in front of the world’s cameras” at the Epsom Derby.

At the time, Davison’s action was attributed to “hysteria” and it is still frequently popularly recalled as an act of deliberate self-sacrifice. The filmmakers, however, successfully represent her death as having been, essentially, a tragic accident, which matches the prevailing scholarly opinion. Thus, Emily Davison became the WSPU’s first martyr, and as Maud Watts joins the massive funeral procession through the streets of London, the film segues into archival footage of the actual event. A caption notes that newsreel film of Davison’s death propelled the English suffragettes’ struggle onto the international stage and, as the credits roll, a list of dates also appear on screen, recording when various countries finally did grant women’s suffrage (albeit strictly limited, in some cases). In sum, we unreservedly recommend the film to fans of the graphic novel. The cast is uniformly excellent and the evocation of London circa 1912/13 is beautifully executed. To some extent, in fact, the events of Suffragette can be viewed as an immediate prequel to those of the Suffrajitsu trilogy; it’s very easy to imagine Maud Watts as one of Mrs.

Pankhurst’s Amazons. Posts navigation Special Collections resources for Women's Suffrage 1893: New Zealand becomes the first Commonwealth Country to introduce universal suffrage New Zealand's women were able to vote from 1893, and when Australia followed suit in 1903, suffragists asked why the commonwealth had accepted universal suffrage before Britain. Attention also turned to Finland (here, women could vote in 1906 and Europe's first female MPs were elected the following year) and to the continued agitation for the vote in the US. Some colonial statesmen, such as Lord Curzon, believed that other nations could not be reliably compared to Britain, an opinion argued against in Colonial Statesmen and Votes for Women. Meanwhile, the writer Israel Zangwill asked in Old Fogeys and Old Bogeys if a New Zealand woman visiting London would find it barbarous that women could not vote in the capital of the empire. Zangwill warned that: "the time is fast coming - coming at motor speed - when in no civilised country will be seen cars without electricity or women without votes".

Colonial Statesmen and Votes for Women Sp Coll f255/9 1897: Foundation of National Organisation of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) by Millicent Fawcett Publications from the NUWSS are well represented in our collection of 70 official publications from suffrage organisations and transcribed speeches, shelved at Sp Coll f255 . The NUWSS' argument in Some Reasons Why Women Want The Vote is that "only those who wear the shoe know where it pinches". Further to this, in Home and Politics, Millicent Fawcett counters the argument that suffragists were seeking to be seen as the same as men, stating: "if men and women were exactly alike, the representation of men would represent us; but not being alike, that wherein we differ is unrepresented under the present system". Later distancing herself from the militancy of other groups, Fawcett remained sympathetic to their actions and in Wanted: A Statesman condemned those who withdrew from the movement when it strayed from its peaceful origins, arguing that the violence perpetrated by some Christians was no cause to abandon Christianity.

Other authors represented in this collection include Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, Israel Zangwill and J. Keir Hardie. Similar pamphlets from the years 1900-1910 featuring works by Constance Lytton, Emmeline Pankhurst and Eva Gore Booth are held at Sp Coll 1326-1333. Similar pamphlets are held in the Bissett collection , which features two items published by the socialist Fabian Women's Group. Formed under the leadership of Mrs. Pember Reeves in 1908, their aim was to investigate the social and economic circumstances of women, but also to take part in NUWSS and Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) processions under the banner "equal opportunities for all". Although not exclusively campaigning for Suffrage, added to their agenda in Three Years Work is a question of whether women should contribute to the Fabian Parliamentary Fund "as long as women are as a sex denied the Parliamentary franchise". Fabian Women's Group, Three Years Work Bissett Add. 126 Some Reasons Why Women Want the Vote Sp Coll f255/43 Women's Suffrage.

Wanted: A Statesman Sp Coll f255/20 Mu14-g.35 "Women's Freedom League Birthday Book, a miscellaneous item from the Murray collection . The birthday book features quotes chosen by member of suffrage organisations. The Citizenship of Women - A Plea for Women's Suffrage Sp Coll f255/25 1906: Enfranchisement bill supported in Parliament by J. Keir Hardie The Independent Labour Party, led by Keir Hardie, broadly supported women's suffrage; however, in not making it their party's priority, some members - such as Emmeline Pankhurst - left in protest. Hardie introduced a 1906 Bill for the franchise. He writes in the 4th edition of The Citizenship of Women that the I.L.P. gives the cause their support - but, he warns that without a combined effort from all sections of the movement, factions will form that will prevent a parliamentary bill.

Aiming to "restate in plain and homely English the case for woman suffrage", Hardie also writes that just as nations like Finland that enabled women to vote are an inspiration to suffragists, the example set by Britain is copied elsewhere. To support this, he cites the example of a British delegation advising the Persian Shah on his 1906 constitution: they are unable to prevent him from denying certain democratic rights to the Persian people because some British citizens are still denied a vote. MS Gen 1465/4 A diary entry from Alexander MacCallum Scott, July 1910. Having been unsuccessful in making his case in Parliament, he planned to: "Write some magazine-articles on women's suffrage. Formerly one could not get such articles accepted. Now the papers will be more ready to take them" Ms Gen 1465/422 1909: First Hunger Strike by woman imprisoned for suffrage protest Marion Dunlop was arrested in 1909 for her involvement in suffrage militancy. While in prison she began a hunger strike, a tactic not endorsed by the WSPU but one that became a mainstay of their protests.

As a result of her action, Dunlop was released from prison because the authorities did not want to risk her health. To prevent other suffrage prisoners from avoiding full sentences by being released in this way, force feeding was introduced. The tactic of hunger strikes strengthened the stance of some anti-suffragists; they argued that hunger strikes demonstrated the irresponsibility and lack of concern for authority of the perpetrators. The 1909-1914 diaries of Alexander MacCallum Scott evidence the efforts of an anti-suffrage campaigner. As Liberal MP for Glasgow's Bridgton area, MacCallum Scott used the physical force argument to support his view that women should not be allowed to vote in parliamentary elections - that only those able to physically resist foreign intervention or the government acting against their wishes should be able to vote, and that, as such, women should be excluded from the franchise as a weaker sex. Despite his strong stance (his diary frequently discusses his activities as a member of an anti-suffrage committee in the Liberal Party), he nonetheless was sympathetic towards women arrested for their political activities.

In 1913 he wrote in a letter to Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence that in prison women "are entitled to make whatever political capital you can out of the spectacle of sincere and disinterested men and women resolutely incurring the same penalties as the most abandoned criminals", appearing to support publicity seeking tactics. The position that MacCallum Scott held was not strictly in opposition to all that suffragists stood for, and his writings show the more complex composition of his opinions. Although he would not accept that those imprisoned for suffrage militancy could rightfully be referred to as political prisoners, he respected the strength of their belief and believed that the treatment given to those charged with suffrage offences was unfair. Writing to Frederick Pethick-Lawrence before his imprisonment in 1913, MacCallum Scott offered to write to the Home Secretary to have Frederick's sentence reduced to that of a minor misdemeanour. For more information, see the MacCallum Scott Papers .

Ms Gen 1465/2 Anti-suffrage newspaper articles written by Alexander MacCallum Scott Punch, 10th January 1912 1912: Increased militancy in the suffrage movement Punch magazine provides a record of both suffrage campaigns and parliamentary activity. Founded in 1841, and subtitled the London Charivari, Punch offers a satirical view of British society and politics through articles and cartoons. Bound in annual 'almanacks', the years 1910-1914 cover women's suffrage with particular frequency, demonstrating how it was one of many issues - along with Irish Home Rule and the beginnings of the First World War - that the Liberal Government faced. As well as Parliamentary conflict over franchise (seen here in a January 10th 1910 depiction of pro-suffrage David Lloyd George and anti-suffrage Lewis Harcourt trying to rally crowds to their opposing causes), Punch also depicts conflicts within suffrage organisations.

The 1912 expulsion of Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence from the WSPU - after she disagreed with a campaign of shop window smashing endorsed by Emmeline Pankhurst - is shown in the illustration of two women whispering over a table "are you a Peth or a Pank?". The arrest of suffragettes is treated both with humour in "the suffragette who knew jiu jitsu" and more seriously, in a figure of liberty being described as the movement's first martyr. Other news items, such as the 1912 burning of David Lloyd George's home are also featured in cartoons. Copies of Punch Almanacks are available from the library stack. As this is a closed collection, items must be ordered and will be made available for consultation in the Special Collections reading room. The main library website provides further information on accessing stack items . Punch, 5th November 1913 Woman in the Nation Sp Coll f255/12 Charlotte Despard had both joined and left the WSPU and NUWSS, for lack of success and poor organisation respectively.

In 1907 she was a founder member of the Women's Freedom League, and in 1908 the Irish Women's Freedom League, hoping the groups would focus on non-violent methods. Hansard vol. 52, April 21 to May 8 1913 1913: Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act passed The Department of the Official Report provides transcriptions of British parliamentary debates known as Hansard. Contained in bound volumes that are kept in the Maps and Official Publications Department (MOPS) on level seven of the library, debates from the early 20th century provide evidence of general attitudes towards suffrage and opinion following major events. Hansard can be particularly useful to show how legislation - such as the 1913 Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health), or "Cat and Mouse" Act - was created. The treatment of suffragettes in prison had become a topic of heated debate as force feeding of suffrage prisoners had caused injury and, in some cases, death.

Discussion of solutions that avoided the ethical problems of force feeding included suggestions that the king should use the prerogative of mercy to release hunger strikers, and that women could be imprisoned under the mental deficiency act if arrested during protests; Lord Cecil even asked whether deportation to remote islands was a feasible alternative to prison sentences! Hansard reports of debates are shelved chronologically; the final volume of each year is an index. A further index volume is kept for the end of each parliamentary session. Search by keyword to find the volume and column number of relevant debates. Visit the Maps and Official Publications homepage for more information, or see the library's online guides to finding government publications . Ms Gen 1465/447 Letter written by Alexander MacCallum Scott to Emmeline Pethick Lawrence in which he explains his position on hunger strikes and votes for women. 1914: Mary Richardson damages Wallace Collection painting with an axe Personal correspondence can provide contemporary opinions of suffrage from people without direct involvement in campaigns. The MacColl collection includes a 1913 letter to its namesake, DS MacColl, Keeper of the Wallace Collection, warning that Scotland Yard believe a "suffragist outrage" may occur in the gallery.

The warning does not seem to have been adequately heeded, as in 1914 Mary Richardson slashed the Rokeby Venus by Velazquez, supposedly in protest to the re-arrest of Emmeline Pankhurst in Glasgow. As a result, many art galleries were closed to the public, much to the annoyance of Emily Lawless, who was unable to see the Wallace Collection "because of those horrible suffragettes". Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, Christina Lawson writes to her nephew about a march of suffragettes from Edinburgh to London; although she believes that they deserve the vote, she does not think that if universal suffrage was gained it would be exercised, as - in her experience - many women able to vote in municipal and school elections choose not to do so. For details on finding other MS Gen items see the general manuscripts collection record. Letter from Christina Lawson to her nephew, Stephen, written in 1912 Ms Gen 525/5 Letter from the Hon. Emily Lawless to Prof.

Albert Venn Dicey, in agreement with his anti-suffrage writing Ms Gen 508/47 Letter from Samuel James Camp to DS MacColl, keeper of the Wallace Collection, stating that Scotland Yard have warned of an attack on the collection MS MacColl C27 Letter from Annabel Jackson to DS MacColl requesting visitor passes to the Wallace Collection after its closure to the public following Mary Richardson damaging the Rokeby Venus MS MacColl J1

Question: What was the nickname for a 1913 British Act of Parliament that enabled suffragettes on hunger strike to be released from prison when they became ill?
Answer: The Cat and Mouse Act