HASTINGS & ST LEONARDS
SUFFRAGETTE & SUFFRAGIST ACTIVITY BOOK BY ANN KRAMER
ABOUT WOMEN’S VOICE The Hastings & St Leonards Suffragette & Suffragist Activity Book was produced by Women’s Voice and funded by the Heritage Lottery as part of the Celebrating Votes for Women project. It is available free for schools and colleges. Women’s Voice is a not-for profit charity run by women for women in Hastings and St Leonards. We aim to continue the work of suffragists and suffragettes by continuing to work and campaign for women’s rights, as well as exposing and challenging sexism and discrimination. We believe in diversity and inclusion and we seek to work with women of all ages from young to old. We welcome women of all abilities, faiths, ethnicities and cultures. Women’s Voice hosts and supports a whole raft of events. Every year we celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March. We also organise various workshops and activities, including sport and fitness activities, global cooking workshops, and hands-on activities such as banner making, printing posters and creating and producing zines, particularly with young women. Women’s Voice works to link with women of all ages in the diverse communities of Hastings and St Leonards to enable women to find their voices, share their experiences and to stand up and speak out against injustices and barriers facing women.
Women’s Voice wants to hear from you with your thoughts and ideas. Check out our Facebook page to find out what we are up to Facebook: Hastings Womens Voice We welcome new members. We also want to know what you think are the main issues facing women today. Our contact email is hastingwomensvoice@yahoo.com
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Words and layout © Ann Kramer and Erica Smith Photograph on Page 44 © Alamy
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 TIMELINE 6
THE POWER OF A BANNER
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ACTIVITY 27 Make a banner
EARLY VOICES 8 GETTING TOGETHER 10
SPREADING THE WORD 28
ACTIVITY 11 Write a petition
ACTIVITY 30
GOING PUBLIC 12
EVADING THE CENSUS 32
OPEN AIR MEETINGS 14
NO VOTE, NO TAX 34
GETTING THE 16 MESSAGE ACROSS
UNDER ATTACK 36
ACTIVITY 17 Write to the paper
Make a splash
DEEDS NOT WORDS 38 BOMBS & PILGRIMS 40
SUFFRAGIST OR 18 SUFFRAGETTE?
ACTIVITY 42 Plan a campaign
ACTIVITY 19
WINNING THE VOTE 44
Peaceful or Militant?
PARADES & PROCESSIONS 20 HIVES OF ACTIVITY 22 UP TO LONDON 24
FACTS AT A GLANCE 46 BIBLIOGRAPHY 47 SUFFRAGETTE MAP Inside back cover pocket
INTRODUCTION OTES FOR WOMEN” was the rallying cry for “V thousands of British women from the late 1860s right up to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. For
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more than 50 years women lobbied, marched, protested, and campaigned for their right to vote in parliamentary elections and to stand for election as Members of Parliament in their own right. It was a long, hard and sometimes bitter fight. Finally a hundred years ago, in 1918, women achieved their goal and for the very first time some women were able to put their cross on a ballot paper and take part in national elections. Ten years later in 1928 all women won their right to vote equally with men. Using words and pictures, the Hastings & St Leonards Suffragette & Suffragist Activity Book explores some of the main features of that inspirational campaign. At the time much of the campaign focused on London, as the home of Parliament, but women were campaigning in towns and villages all over the country, including Hastings and St Leonards. For this reason, this book looks particularly on what was going on here, in Hastings and St Leonards. It describes how local women threw themselves into
the fight for the vote with courage and determination, holding meetings, organising petitions, marching and even taking direct action, such as refusing to fill in the census. Hastings & St Leonards Suffragette & Suffragist Activity Book introduces you to some of the colourful local campaigners, like Barbara Bodichon, Muriel Matters and Elsie Bowerman. It describes some of the processions when women marched through the town and along the seafront with placards and banners, explains the different strategies they used, and looks at what they faced when they dared stand up and demand their right to vote. Also dotted through the book are Activities that you can do either in your classroom, with friends or on your own. Activities include designing a banner, writing to the local press, or even organising your own campaign. The women’s vote may now be won but there are many other causes that still need fighting for. Also included in this book is an illustrated map showing some of the main sites of local women’s suffrage campaign. Use the map to follow in the footsteps of local suffragists and suffragettes. You can find the homes and meeting places of some of the local campaigners, see where suffrage offices were located and trace the route of one of the biggest processions that took place here in Hastings and St Leonards.
Above: Suffragette poster parade, Hastings, 1913
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TIMELINE 1832 First Reform Act: Male householders gain the vote.
1866 Hastings resident Barbara Bodichon draws up petition demanding votes for women. Gathers 1500 signatures.
1867 Liberal MP John Stuart Mill calls for women to be included in the Second Reform Bill. He fails to convince the House of Commons. London Society for Women’s Suffrage formed.
1869 Women ratepayers can vote in local elections.
1871 First women’s suffrage meeting takes place in Hastings.
1880s Local women hold ‘drawing room’ meetings.
1883 Hastings and St Leonards Women’s Suffrage Society (HSLWSS) formed to campaign for votes for women.
1884 Third Reform Act: male
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agricultural labourers gain the vote, but not women.
1897 National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) formed, led by Millicent Fawcett. (Suffragists)
1903 Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) formed led by Emmeline Pankhurst. (Suffragettes) HSLWSS opens office in 29 Havelock Road.
1904 Women’s Freedom League (WLF) founded
1905 Suffragette militancy begins.
1907 The ‘Mud March’ demonstration, London
1908 February: Christabel Pankhurst, Flora Drummond and Mrs Martel mobbed in Wellington Square, Hastings March: Emmeline Pankhurst speaks at the Royal Concert Hall, Warrior Gardens. June: Hastings suffragists and suffragettes travel to London for huge suffrage demonstration.
July: Muriel Matters and friends are pelted with fish heads in the Old Town. November: ‘Black Friday’ police attack suffragettes outside Parliament, London, many injured (below).
suffragettes evade the census.
1912-13 Militancy increases; suffragettes smash windows in London.
1912 May: Hastings campaigners refuse to pay taxes, barricade themselves in Mrs Darent Harrison’s house. June: Women’s Suffrage Club opens 7 Havelock Road, Hastings.
1913 Cat and Mouse Act:
1909 Local NUWSS branch formed. Hastings and St Leonards Women’s Suffrage Propaganda League launched; Isabella Darent Harrison, secretary. July: Marian Wallace Dunlop becomes first suffragette to go on hunger strike; force-feeding begins.
1910-12 Parliament debates Conciliation Bills, which would give some women the vote, but none pass.
1911 Local WSPU branch formed Hastings with office at 8 Trinity Street. April: Local suffragists and
hunger striking suffragettes released from prison then re-arrested when healthier. April: Suffragettes set fire to Levetleigh, home of Hastings MP Du Cros. June: Emily Davison dies after running onto the Derby horse race course.
1914 World War begins. Most suffrage campaigning halts.
1918 Representation of the People Act: propertied women over 30 gain the vote. Women can also stand for parliament.
1928 All women and men over 21 gain equal voting rights.
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Who could vote? • Early 1800s: the right to vote in parliamentary elections limited mainly to wealthy landowning men: less than 3% of the population. • 1832 First Reform Act: men who own or lease land or property gain the vote. • 1867 Second Reform Act: doubles the number of men who can vote and extends the vote to wealthier working class men. • 1884 Third Reform Act: agricultural workers gain the vote but not women. By 1900 about 58% of the adult male population had the vote, including some working-class men. Women were denied the vote even though some paid rates and taxes, just like men. Originally women demanded the vote for single or widowed women who paid rates. As time went on, they also demanded that married women have the too.
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EARLY VOICES Women in Britain began demanding the right to vote some 200 years ago. In 1818 a female suffrage (right to vote) society was formed in Lancashire. During the 1830s and 1840s women were active in the Chartist movement, demanding votes and the reform of parliament. In 1856 campaigning women, some of whom were fighting to open up higher education for women, came together and founded the Kensington Society. Soon members began to focus on gaining votes for women and the women’s suffrage campaign began to appear. One of the key figures in this move was Hastings resident, Barbara Bodichon.
“Women have as good a claim as men have ... to the suffrage.” Harriet Taylor, 1851
LOCAL FOCUS: Barbara Bodichon Barbara Bodichon (1827–91) was born Barbara Leigh Smith near Battle but grew up in Pelham Crescent, Hastings. A pioneering campaigner, she fought tirelessly for women’s rights and helped to kick start the women’s suffrage movement. In the 1850s she highlighted English laws that discriminated against women and helped married women to gain property rights. She campaigned for greater working opportunities for women and in 1866 she and her friends drew up a petition for women’s suffrage, which gained more than 1500 signatures in just two weeks. In 1867 Liberal MP John Stuart Mill used Barbara’s petition to call for votes for women. He did not succeed but it was the first time women’s demand for the vote was heard in Parliament.
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Some local campaigners Emma Fricker Hall: Headmistress of a girl’s school. Hosted meetings and flooded the Hastings and St Leonards Observer with letters about votes for women. Cecilia Tubbs: also known as Mrs ‘Colonel’ Tubbs: Suffragist, member of NUWSS, president Hastings and St Leonards and East Sussex Women’s Suffrage Society. Buried Hastings Cemetery. Jane Strickland: Suffragist, member of NUWSS, executive member of Women’s Liberal Federation; chair local branch of Women’s Freedom League; later vice-chair of local Labour Party. Buried in Hastings Cemetery.
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GETTING TOGETHER From the 1870s women began getting together to talk about how they could win the vote. They often met in each other’s houses, throwing open their homes for were known as ‘drawing room meetings’ or ‘at homes’. Women discussed votes for women, formed suffrage committees, drew up petitions and passed resolutions. Drawing room meetings were packed, attracting sympathetic men as well as women. In 1884 nearly 100 people came to a drawing room meeting at Emma Fricker Hall’s home in Pevensey Road, St Leonards. Local committee members were present and Laura Ormiston Chant, a well-known writer and lecturer spoke. The audience included novelist Olive Schreiner and other notable individuals. As suffrage societies opened offices in Hastings, these too were used for meetings or ‘at homes’. By 1912 at least three meetings were taking place every week in Hastings and St Leonards.
Writing a petition
ACTIVITY
Suffragists believed in using peaceful methods to obtain the vote. One of their methods was to use petitions to gather signatures from the public. They sent these petitions to sympathetic MPs in the House of Commons, who used the information to raise the issue of votes for women in Parliament. From 1870–1884 there were Parliamentary debates about women’s suffrage nearly every year. Now draw up your own petition. • What will your petition say? What are you petitioning for? • Who is your local Member of Parliament (MP)? • What do you want your MP to do? • Write a petition listing your demands and telling your MP what you would like her or him to do • Take your petition around your school and collect as many signatures as possible • Send your petition to your MP PAPER
SUGGESTIONS…
What about a petition demanding votes for 16-year-olds? Or calling for some env ironmental-friendly public transport in Hastings.
OR ONLINE: WHICH WORKS BEST? With a paper petition you can meet and talk to people in your school or in the street. You can explain your point of view and discuss the issues. An online petition reaches many more people but is not so personal. Which do you think works best?
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“A crowded and overflowing meeting in support of Women’s Parliamentary franchise was held at the… Royal Concert Hall, St Leonards on Saturday afternoon.” Hastings and St Leonards Pictorial Advertiser, 18 March 1909
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GOING PUBLIC To reach a wider audience, campaigners needed to make their views heard in public. All over the country they hired public halls and invited speakers to put the case for votes for women. Popular venues in Hastings included the Royal Concert Hall in Warrior Square. Local suffrage societies invited well-known campaigners such as Millicent Fawcett or Emmeline Pankhurst to speak and advertised all meetings though the local press. Flowers, suffrage colours and banners of the local societies decorated the halls, which were usually packed to overflowing.
Above: November 1911: Millicent Fawcett, NUWSS leader, addresses a crowded suffrage rally in Hastings. Mrs Cecilia Tubb, a local activist, stands on her left. Hastings Pictorial Advertiser
Above: Flanked by local banners, Emmeline Pankhurst, WSPU leader, rallies activists at a meeting in December 1912 in Hastings. Hastings Pictorial Advertiser
Standing on stage speakers put the case passionately for the women’s vote, interrupted from time to time by clapping and cheering from the audience. Not all the responses were sympathetic. Women soon became very skilled at dealing with boisterous hecklers, often young men, who tried to shout them down. As well as huge meetings in public halls, suffragists and suffragettes also held meetings in churches and smaller local halls in and around the different areas of Hastings. In 1913 a meeting took place in Silverhill, where many working-class women Above: A suffragette puts the case for votes for women (originally published in Punch magazine). attended.
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OPEN AIR MEETINGS No matter what the weather, crowds gathered whenever suffragists and suffragettes held meetings in the open air. Standing on boxes or makeshift stages, they exhorted crowds to support their fight for votes for women. It took a great deal of courage for women to speak out in public at a time when most people believed a woman’s place was in the home, not in the public world of politics. Sometimes crowds were sympathetic but speakers often found themselves on the receiving end of rotten fruit, eggs and stones thrown by people in the crowd who disagreed with them. Hastings seafront was a popular place for speakers, as was Wellington Square. In 1908 Christabel Pankhurst and two other suffragettes held an open-air evening meeting in Wellington Square. An angry crowd met them with “derisive laughter and cat calls” and pelted them with orange peel and eggs. Police arrived and dragged the suffragettes away, which angered the suffragettes.
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“It is time that the women of England were given a voice… we demand the vote.” Muriel Matters 1908
LOCAL FOCUS: Muriel Matters In 1908 Muriel Matters, a member of the Women’s Freedom League (WLF) arrived in Hastings in a horse-drawn caravan to spread the word about votes for women. A well-known activist, Muriel Matters, with Lillian Hicks and Violet Tillard, held their first open-air meeting in Wellington Square. Next day they set up at the Fishmarket in Hastings Old Town. The weather was dreadful. When they took shelter, they were pelted with fish guts and heads. Muriel Matters eventually settled in Hastings. In 1924 she stood, unsuccessfully, as a Labour Party candidate. Hastings Borough Council offices are named after her.
Left: Suffrage meeting on Hastings beach. Right: Muriel Matters and other members of the WLF travelled in a horse-drawn caravan to Hastings in 1908 to spread the cause of women’s suffrage.
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GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS Email, smart phones and televisions did not exist when women were campaigning for the vote. Instead they used the newspapers, national and local. Suffragettes and suffragists wrote to the press constantly. They wrote advertising meetings, explaining why women should have the vote, protesting brutal treatment of women, and often in reply to angry letters attacking them. Not a week went by without at least one letter from a suffrage campaigner in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer – and usually several. Local activists who flooded the press with passionate letters included Cecilia Tubbs, Jane Strickland and Isabel Giberne Sieveking.
AGAINST VOTES FOR WOMEN
SUPPORTING VOTES FOR WOMEN
“…our men are able and willing to represent us in Parliament, as they do our children…If we can trust our love and our lives into a man’s keeping, we may trust him to promote our interest and to stand between us and the harassing world of politics… The Maker of man and women knew how to fit her for …man’s “helpmeet” and “companion”…she is to be the mother of his children, and the joy of his heart…I appeal to men, who love us and value us, not to imperil our sacred mission by placing us in the arena of political strife…” Annabel, 15 April 1911
“We do not base our demand for the vote on the fact that a majority of women want it, but we do base it on the certainty that they need it, whether they are aware of it or not…Whether they like it or no, men must now face the painful ordeal of seeing us as we really are, neither goddesses, angels, fairies, nor witches, but human beings like themselves…bearing a burden that is peculiarly their own, not timidly and haltingly, but with courage and self-reliance…it is only by collective action on the part of men and women…and the due representation of each class and sex that our needs can be made known…” Mrs Darent Harrison, 25 March 1911
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“Surely the time is ripe for women’s direct influence in politics!” Jane Strickland, 4 April 1912
Isabella Darent Harrison wrote so many letters to the Hastings and St Leonards Observer that one week the letters page carried a heading: “Another letter from Mrs Darent Harrison”.
WRITE TO THE LOCAL PAPER
ACTIVITY
Look at the letter page of your local newspaper. Think about which letters are powerful and clear and which letters are a bit confused. Now compose and write a letter to the local newspaper. You can either write demanding votes for women and explaining why. Or you can write a letter on another topic that is important to you, such as climate change. • Think about what you want to say. • Think about who will be reading your letter. • What are the main points you want to make? • Put your points in order. • Make your letter as persuasive as possible. • Send or email your letter to your local paper.
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SUFFRAGIST OR SUFFRAGETTE? People often think that all women who campaigned for the vote were suffragettes but this is not quite true. Some were suffragists and some were suffragettes. Both wanted votes for women but they campaigned in very different ways. Suffragists believed in using only peaceful, law-abiding methods to win the vote. Most were members of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Formed in 1897 and led by Millicent Fawcett, the NUWSS was the largest women’s suffrage organisation. Suffragettes by contrast were prepared to break the law. They used dramatic actions, rushing the Houses of Parliament, pestering politicians, chaining themselves to railings and generally challenging the government in any way that drew attention to their cause. As time went on suffragettes became increasingly militant (war-like), breaking windows, setting fire to post boxes and planting bombs. Suffragettes tended to be members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), set up in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia.
What’s in a name? In 1906 the Daily Mail used the word “suffragette” as an insult to describe the women who were hounding politicians. Rather than being insulted, WSPU members embraced the term and used it with pride. They have been known as suffragettes ever since.
“You see when we behave ourselves they take no notice of us, and we are not going on like that any more.”
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Miss Lambert, Hastings WSPU
Insults and scaremongering The suffragettes’ dramatic actions made headline news. They brought Votes for Women more publicity than ever before. They worried many suffragists and also alienated members of the public who thought women should not behave in such an unruly way. The Hastings press described them as “harridans” and “violent viragoes” and made fun of them in cartoons. Hastings’ insurance companies panicked when they heard the WSPU was opening a local office. They feared they would have to pay out huge insurance claims for broken windows.
ACTIVITY Peaceful or Militant? Think about the two different ways of campaigning. Which do you think would be most effective? List arguments for and against peaceful and militant campaigning.
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PARADES & PROCESSIONS Suffragists and suffragettes constantly looked for ways to publicise “the Cause” as the fight for the vote was often known. In the years leading up to the First World War, long-skirted women carrying eye-catching banners and placards processed through all the major towns, attracting lots of attention. Women embroidered slogans onto their banners, such as “Votes for Women”. Other slogans included “Deeds not Words”, the WSPU motto. Banners sometimes carried images of famous women in history and the names of different women’s suffrage societies. Hastings suffragists and suffragettes organised several marches and parades. In 1910 local WSPU activists organised a women’s suffrage parade to publicise an upcoming meeting at which Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and Mary Jane Clarke, younger sister of Emmeline Pankhurst were to speak. Carrying a green flag, Elsie Bowerman and her mother led the march, which set off from the Memorial in the town centre. Activists from Bexhill and Winchelsea joined the procession, carrying banners saying “No Surrender” and “Face to the Dawn”. The procession wound its way around town and along the seafront before returning to the town centre. According to the local press, there were some jeers but most passers by were respectful and some men raised their hats.
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By 1905 women’s fight for the vote was big news and it stayed that way until World War One began in 1914. As more and more women threw themselves into the fight, in 1909 the Hastings and St Leonards Observer commented humorously on how “suffragitis” was spreading in the town:
‘It is said that the attention of the Medical Officer of Health is being called to a new virulent disease that has recently taken root in Hastings, and is being shamelessly spread far and wide throughout the town by a band of energetic and enthusiastic ladies. “Suffragitis” is the name given to the new disease, and the ladies who are responsible for its propagation in Hastings are glorying in the fact that a very large number of people have shown themselves peculiarly susceptible to its attack.’
Left: Elsie Bowerman leads local suffragettes in procession. Above: Mrs Darent Harrison and Mary Clarke follow the procession in a carriage. Hastings Pictorial Advertiser, Sept 1910
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HIVES OF ACTIVITY
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HE YEARS BETWEEN 1910 and 1914 were extremely active as women intensified their efforts to gain the vote, increasingly frustrated by the refusal of successive governments to accept their demands. Women in Hastings and St Leonards stepped up their activity just like campaigners everywhere else. Suffragists and suffragettes redoubled their efforts, determined to get the vote. They launched new suffrage societies, increased the number of meetings and public events, opened offices and held more outdoor events.
BUSY OFFICES In 1909 the existing women’s suffrage society was affiliated to the NUWSS. Two new societies were set up. One was the Hastings, St Leonards and East Sussex Women’s Suffrage Society, which opened an office at 29 Havelock Road, Hastings. Miss Shrimpton ran the office, which was used for meetings and lectures. The other society was the Hastings and St Leonards Women’s Suffrage Propaganda League. It opened an office at 47 London Road, St Leonards. Each office was a hive of activity, selling suffrage newspapers, displaying posters, providing information and organising meetings.
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HASTINGS WSPU OFFICE In 1911 WSPU organiser Dorothy Bowker set up a local branch of the WSPU in Hastings. Soon afterwards the WSPU opened a shop at 8 Trinity Street, Hastings (now Wow & Flutter in Claremont). The office was constantly busy and often used as an assembly point for marches and demonstrations. In 1912 when Emmeline Pankhurst came to speak in Hastings, the local press photographer took shots of local suffragettes lined up outside the office carrying placards advertising the meeting. They also took a fine shot of Mrs Isabella Darent Harrison sitting in a decorated car, lent to the women by a male supporter, the Reverend Hope of Bexhill (see right).
A SUFFRAGE CLUB In 1912 the local NUWSS opened a Women’s Suffrage Club at 7 Havelock Road. It was used for meetings, had a kitchen and a rest room where members could read, write or just rest after their campaigning activities.
STRIDING ALONG THE SEAFRONT Local suffragettes organised ‘poster parades’ to advertise the cause and local meetings. In 1912 suffragettes processed along the seafront advertising a huge public meeting where Emmeline Pankhurst was to speak.
“Let no one say that the Suffrage Movement is dead in this borough. On the contrary it was never so much alive.” Jane Strickland, NUWSS
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UP TO LONDON The largest demonstrations and processions took place in London. Thousands of women, and supportive men, marched through central London, carrying colourful banners and placards, and dressed in the suffrage colours: green, white and purple for the WSPU or green, white and red for the NUWSS. Bands played, women sang songs of suffrage and hundreds of passers by lined the streets to watch these courageous women marching by. Hastings’ suffragists and suffragettes were keen to do their bit and show their commitment to the struggle. In 1907 Hastings suffragist Jane Strickland took part in one of the first large demonstrations. More than 3,000 women marched led by Millicent Fawcett. It became known as the ‘Mud March’ because the weather was so bad that mud caked the women’s long skirts. In June 1908 activists from Hastings and St Leonards, including Mrs Harlow Phibbs, Isabella Darent Harrison, Lettice MacMunn and Jane Strickland boarded trains from Hastings and went up to London for a huge demonstration organised by the NUWSS. At least 10,000 women assembled on the Embankment and made their way to Albert Hall. The procession, which was more than two miles long, was divided into eight sections, with Hastings and St Leonard’s campaigners in the first section. Later that month Elsie Bowerman and her mother Edith, together with other local campaigners boarded specially organised excursion trains from Hastings, Warrior Square or West Marina up to Victoria Station in London to take part in a mammoth demonstration organised by the WSPU. Seven separate processions converged on Hyde Park, accompanied by many bands. An estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people took part but it had no impact on Prime Minister Asquith who continued to refuse women the vote.
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MARCH OF THE WOMEN In 1910 composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth composed the music for a song called ‘March of the Women.’ With words by Cicely Hamilton, the song became the official WSPU anthem and eventually the anthem of the whole women’s suffrage movement. Women sang it on marches and demonstrations and in prison.
WEARING WHITE Many suffragettes were imprisoned for heckling politicians, breaking windows, rushing the Houses of Parliament and generally causing what society thought was a nuisance. On processions, suffragettes who had been imprisoned marched in a block together, wearing white and carrying arrow shaped emblems. Background: Suffragette procession passing through Parliament Square, London – 19 March 1908
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THE POWER OF A BANNER Mary Lowndes, a skilled stained-glass artist and founder of the Artists’ Suffrage League described a banner as something “to float in the wind, to flicker in the breeze, to flirt its colours for your pleasure.” She designed most of the 70 banners carried on the huge NUWSS procession through London on 13 June 1908.
Above: Mary Lowndes’ banners on the 13 June 1908 procession. Left: one of her banners in detail.
LOCAL FOCUS: A LOST MASTERPIECE
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In May 1908 Hastings suffragette Edith Chibnall presented the WSPU with a beautiful silk banner that had been made by local women. It was carried on the WSPU demonstration in London on 21 June 1908. Sadly there is no photograph of the banner and no one knows what happened to it.
Women’s Voice made this banner to carry on the procession celebrating the centenary of some women gaining the vote in 2018. It is made up of more than 150 embroidered or decorated squares, each carrying a woman’s name. The squares were sewn together, edging was added and the whole thing sewn onto a huge sheet. The suffragette symbol in the centre is open so the wind can blow through it as it is being carried.
ACTIVITY
MAKING A BANNER
Now design your own banner for a procession. You can create a suffragette banner, or you can make a banner for a cause that is most important for you, like climate change. • Think about the colours of your banner • Think about the images on your banner • Work out a slogan for your banner and make sure the lettering is big enough to be read easily at a distance. • How big will your banner be? • How will you carry your banner? You can use an old white sheet for your banner and embroider it, or you could make a collage of different materials – the choice is yours.
Above: Local artist Lorna Vahey produced this sketch for the Women’s Voice banner made in 2018 for the centenary march (there is a photograph of the final banner at the top of this page). A horizontal pole, and two vertical poles were threaded through the seams of the banner and lashed together.
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SPREADING THE WORD Suffragists and suffragettes knew it was essential to get their message across to the public. Television and mobile phones did not exist so newspapers were vitally important. Activists publicised their activities through all the existing press but also produced and sold their own newspapers. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) published its own newspaper, The Common Cause. It first appeared in April 1909 and continued publication until 1918. One of the editors was Brighton-born suffragist, Clementina Black. The Common Cause was sold widely around the country, including in Hastings. It kept suffragists up to date with news about the women’s suffrage campaign and also helped to increase membership. By 1913, the NUWSS had around 100,000 members countrywide, organised within some 600 societies. The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) published various newspapers. One was Votes for Women, which was one of the most widely circulated and influential of the suffrage papers. First published in 1907 as a monthly paper, from 1908 it appeared weekly. It included news, notice of demonstrations and advertisements for suffrage-themed goods. Following a split within the WSPU over militancy, the WSPU started another newspaper, The Suffragette, edited by Christabel Pankhurst. Hastings suffragette Isabel Hogg sold The Suffragette in the town centre.
Symbolic colours WSPU colours were green, white and purple: green for life or hope, white for purity and dignity, and purple for honour. Suffragettes wore these colours whenever they went on demonstrations.
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LOCAL FOCUS: Elsie Bowerman Born in Tunbridge Wells, Elsie Bowerman moved to St Leonards in 1911, where her mother, Edith Chibnall, was a WSPU activist. Elsie too was an active suffragette and member of the WSPU. She helped to run the WSPU shop and was a full-time paid organizer. She wrote regularly to the local paper and is shown here selling newspapers and collecting subscriptions for the WSPU. In 1912 she and her mother were among the very few passengers who survived the Titanic disaster.
Merchandising Suffragettes and suffragists were brilliant publicists. Way ahead of their time, they also recognized the value of branding. Demonstrations, dramatic stunts and suffrage colours all helped to publicise the women’s fight for the vote. Suffrage societies produced postcards, badges and flyers and, also used fashion and merchandising to promote their cause. West End stores dressed their windows with fashionable clothes in the suffragette colours and also sold tea towels, table clothes and dinner sets in purple, green and white. People could buy packs of cards carrying suffragette figures and a popular board game called Pank-A-Squith. Taking its name from WSPU leader Emmeline Pankhurst and Prime Minister Asquith who refused to give votes to women, it was a race game played on a round board.
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C TI V I TY A
MAKING A SPLASH
Suffragists and suffragettes planned demonstrations very carefully. Their aim was to get maximum publicity. Sometimes it took several weeks to plan a really big demonstration such as the 1908 march in London. In the days leading up to a demonstration, they put notices and articles in the newspaper. They also produced leaflets to advertise the demonstration and to hand out to members of the public during the demonstration. Your task is to plan a demonstration on any cause that is really important to you. You can recreate a suffragette demonstration. Or you can plan a demonstration about another issue such as the effects of climate change, or demanding votes for 16-year-olds. You can choose.
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When planning a demonstration, think about the things you need to do. These include: • Choosing a good day, time and place for your demonstration • Deciding if it will be a march, or a stationary protest. If it is a march, where will you go? Do you need to prepare a map? • Writing an article for the newspaper giving times, places and dates of the demonstration and why it is taking place • Prepare placards and slogans for the demonstration • Think about fancy dress: would this help your cause? • Will you have music? Who will be your speaker? • Write and decorate a flyer to give out to the public
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“We are women fighting as women for the enfranchisement of women.” ISABELLA DARENT HARRISON
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EVADING THE CENSUS In 1911, as a protest against the Liberal government still refusing votes for women, Emmeline Pankhurst called for women householders to refuse to fill in the census. The census listed all householders in the country so campaigners argued that if they could not vote, they would not fill in the census, even though they would be fined. Campaigners in Hastings responded to the call and decided they would join the action. One of the most enthusiastic activists was Isabella Darent Harrison, a staunch supporter of votes for women. She lived at 1 St Paul’s Place, St Leonards. On 2 April, the day of the census, she opened her home to her suffrage friends who hid there over night so avoiding filling in the census. Mrs Harrison wrote “no vote, no information” on her form and refused to say if there were other women in the house. Other women who took part included Edith Bowerman Chibnall, Lettice and Nora MacMunn, Isabel Willis, and Flora Tristram, all local WSPU members. Many of them spent an uncomfortable night hiding at 5 Grand Parade listening to the police climbing on the roof trying to find them. The protest was very successful. The Hastings census evaders made the front page of the Hastings Pictorial Advertiser (left). Dressed in their best, they posed for a photo and were interviewed about their action.
OUT FOR THE COUNT Suffragettes hid in some extraordinary places including horse-drawn caravans on Wimbledon Common. Suffragette Emily Davison, who would later be mowed down by the King’s horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby hid in a cupboard in the crypt of Westminster Hall. Tony Benn secretly added a plaque to the cupboard, with the aid of Jeremy Corbyn. Opposite: Women from the Hastings and St Leonards Women’s Suffrage Propaganda League who chose to evade the census. Hastings Pictorial Advertiser, April 1911
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TAKING ACTION In 1907 another important suffrage organisation was launched — the Women’s Freedom League (WLF). The WLF was a breakaway group made up originally of women who had left the WSPU because they though the Pankhursts were too authoritarian. The WLF believed in direct action and was closely linked to the Tax Resistance League, whose members argued that if women did not have the vote, they would not pay taxes. Hastings resident Isabella Darent Harrison was a staunch supporter of direct action. In 1911, as a householder, she refused to pay her taxes. Bailiffs seized goods worth the unpaid tax and the goods came up for sale. Making maximum use of a propaganda opportunity, Mrs Darent Harrison, with other women, arrived at the auction rooms carrying banners emblazoned with the words “No Vote, No Tax”. They marched into the auction rooms, causing complete mayhem, then proceeded to march around town before setting up a protest meeting. The following year Isabella Darent Harrison once again refused to pay her taxes, as did other local women, including Isabel Hogg. This time, to prevent the bailiffs entering her house, Mrs Darent Harrison barricaded herself into her house at 1 St Paul’s Place. Friends sent up food and other items by means of a basket on a rope. The ‘siege’, which got full coverage in the local press, lasted for a month, by which time the bailiffs, who had obtained a special warrant, broke into her house through a kitchen window.
TAKING TO THE SKIES In 1908 Muriel Matters, who was a well-known activist in the Women’s Freedom League, took to the skies in a hot air balloon, which carried the slogan “Votes for Women.” Air borne and with a megaphone in her hand, she dropped Votes for Women leaflets over London. Unfortunately the direction of the wind meant most of the leaflets did not reach their targets but her creative stunt made headline news.
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Opposite: Isabella Darent Harrison (second from right) and fellow activists ‘besieged’ in 1 St Paul’s Place, St Leonards
NO VOTE, NO TAX In 1907 another important suffrage organisation was launched — the Women’s Freedom League (WLF). The WLF was a breakaway group made up originally of women who had left the WSPU because they though the Pankhursts were too authoritarian. The WLF believed in direct action and was closely linked to the Tax Resistance League, whose members argued that if women did not have the vote, they would not pay taxes. Hastings resident Isabella Darent Harrison was a staunch supporter of direct action. In 1911, as a householder, she refused to pay her taxes. Bailiffs seized goods worth the unpaid tax and the goods came up for sale. Making maximum use of a propaganda opportunity, Mrs Darent Harrison, with other women, arrived at the auction rooms carrying banners emblazoned with the words “No Vote, No Tax”. They marched into the auction rooms, causing complete mayhem, then proceeded to march around town before setting up a protest meeting. The following year Isabella Darent Harrison once again refused to pay her taxes, as did other local women, including Isabel Hogg. This time, to prevent the bailiffs entering her house, Mrs Darent Harrison barricaded herself into her house at 1 St Paul’s Place. Friends sent up food and other items by means of a basket on a rope. The ‘siege’, which got full coverage in the local press, lasted for a month, by which time the bailiffs, who had obtained a special warrant, broke into her house through a kitchen window.
“We heard a most ferocious bang, a fierce onslaught on the tradesmen’s entrance. But they failed! It was doubly locked and chained… I was militant through and through: it was war all along the line.” Isabella Darent Harrison
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UNDER ATTACK The Cat & Mouse Act In 1909 imprisoned suffragettes began to go on hunger strike. The government introduced force-feeding, a dreadful torture, in which a suffragette was held down and liquid food was poured down a tube pushed through her nose into her stomach. As hunger striking continued and women became dangerously ill, the government introduced the hated “Cat and Mouse” Act whereby suffragettes on the point of death were released, then re-arrested when their health improved. Despite such brutality, women continued to fight for their rights.
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The women’s suffrage campaign faced constant attacks. People argued that women did not belong in politics; they should stay at home. Some said women were not capable of understand affairs of state. Voting and standing for parliament were unwomanly and should be left to men. Even though campaigners worked, ran businesses, owned property and were teachers, factory inspectors and school governors, their demands for the vote were constantly refused. Anti-suffragists wrote letters to the papers, accusing suffragists and suffragettes of being violent, unwomanly and “turbulent spinsters”, who were making politicians’ lives impossible. When activists stood up to speak, they were told to go home and look after their husbands, or were pelted with rotten fruit, eggs and stones. Some suffragettes wore cardboard under their clothes to protect themselves. As suffragettes became more militant, attacks became more brutal. In London, demonstrating suffragettes were beaten and their clothes torn and brutalised. More than 1,000 suffragettes were imprisoned and hundreds more arrested.
Attacks in Hastings On 6 May 1913 an angry mob charged suffragette Miss Billing when she spoke in Wellington Square. Clinging to a lamppost she continued speaking until knocked to the ground. A few days later, on 14 May, a larger and more violent anti-suffrage riot took place when angry crowds attacked a procession of local suffragettes who had been resisting tax. Women bravely battled their way through a booing and jeering crowd. They were constantly attacked, the crowd destroying their banners, tearing the women’s clothes and hitting men who tried to support them. No one was ever arrested.
Women’s Anti-Suffrage League Some women did not agree with women having the vote. 1n 1908 a Women’s Anti-Suffrage League formed, headed by Mrs Humphrey Ward. A branch opened in Hastings. Its members wrote angry letters to the press but did not sign their names.
“I hate to hear women talk politics, and I almost forget the proverbial gallantry of an Englishman to “the sex,” when the said sex is represented by a petticoated spouter on women’s rights.”
Hastings and St Leonards Observer, Local WSPU organisers Mary Allen and Dorothy Bowker 1872 both spent time in prison. They sent letters back to the WSPU office in Hastings, which were read aloud at meetings.
Hastings ‘prisoners’
Opposite page: May 1913 – crowds gather to watch women’s tax resistance demonstration. Hastings Pictorial Advertiser Above: Banners destroyed by rioters and a campaigner being escorted to safety.
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DEEDS NOT WORDS By 1912 women had been demanding the vote for nearly 50 years and were becoming increasingly frustrated. Hopes rose when Liberal Prime Minister Asquith agreed a Conciliation Bill that would have given some women the vote but were dashed again when he refused to honour the Bill. In response the WSPU, following their motto “Deeds not Words”, stepped up militancy. They smashed windows in London’s Regent Street and elsewhere, and, led by Christabel Pankhurst, began an arson campaign. The aim was to torch property belonging to MPs who opposed votes for women. On 15 April 1915 arson arrived in Hastings when Levetleigh, a stately house in St Leonards belonging to Tory MP, a well-known opponent of votes for women, went up in flames. The house was empty and no one was hurt though the house was seriously damaged. Police soon realised it was the work of suffragettes, not least because a postcard was left at the scene saying militancy would end when women got the vote. Local activists were suspected but denied involvement. It soon transpired that a well-known suffragette Kitty Marion was responsible. The attack caused a sensation locally and nationally with the press describing it as an “outrage” and criticising the suffragettes for their
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violent tactics. Militancy angered the public and upset peaceful suffragists. However, the WSPU never attacked people, only property to try and force the government into giving women the vote. Many suffragists knew that the WSPU had been driven to the limit and many spoke in support of them, including Hastings suffragists Jane Strickland and Isabel Willis, who blamed the Government for increased militancy. “Every sort of constitutional and ‘womanly’ method has been pursued … but, so far, this has failed.” Jane Strickland “The Government has done nothing but resort to trickery and the breaking of faith. Adding to this… forcefeeding, the temper of the women has become inflamed with resentment and indignation.” Isabel Willis
Above: Hammers such as these were used to break toffee. Suffragettes used them to break windows. Opposite page: Levetleigh on fire
Top: Postcard left at Levetleigh. Above: the broken window where suffragettes entered Levetleigh. Women put brown paper and jam on the window to muffle the sound of breaking glass.
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BOMBS AND PILGRIMS Women continued campaigning for the vote right up to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Many MPs and some sections of the public believed that property-qualified women should now have the vote but there was no move from the Liberal Government under Asquith. Suffragists pressed on hopefully, writing passionate letters to the papers, holding public meetings and using other law-abiding methods to promote their cause. Invited by the local NUWSS, Muriel Matters returned to Hastings and spoke at the Palacette, site of Hastings’s first full time cinema. By contrast, the WSPU stepped up their campaign of damaging property. In 1914 suffragette Mary Richardson caused outrage when she slashed the Rokeby Venus in London’s National Gallery. WSPU members also began to place small home made bombs in public places, including Westminster Abbey. The bomb exploded causing only a small amount of damage. In May 1913 three crudely made bombs were found in Hastings. The verger of Holy Trinity Church found one in the church. It consisted of a large tin full of wood shavings, gunpowder and petrol-soaked rags. Attached to the tin was a label: “Votes for Women. No Law. No order till we get the vote.” Hearing ticking, caretaker Mr Butterfield found another in the Brassey Institute, which consisted of a large stone, a clock and smouldering cigarette buts. A local tobacconist found a third bomb, which he took into the police station. No one knew who had made or planted the bombs. The police suspected local suffragettes but WSPU member Isabel Sieveking wrote to the press saying the local WSPU had nothing to do with them.
“It is now or never… women have got to come out and fight.” Suffragette Barbara Ayrton Gould, speaking in Hastings
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Right: photograph shows Holy Trinity Church on the left and the Brassey Institute in Claremont (now the public library). In May 1913, home-made bombs were found in both buildings.
A BIT OF A SHOCK In February 1914 the local congregation in St Mary Magdalen Church nearly jumped out of their seats, when local suffragists staged a protest. The suffragettes stood up and recited a prayer asking God to save Kitty Marion and other suffragettes who were suffering for “conscience sake” and asking God to make Bishops and Clergy see the justice of the women’s cause.
WOMEN’S PILGRIMAGE In 1913 local suffragists Jane Strickland and Kate Rance joined a Women’s Suffrage Pilgrimage. Organised by the NUWSS the pilgrimage aimed to demonstrate just how many women wanted the vote. Some 50,000 converged peacefully on London’s Hyde Park, having walked and cycled from all over Britain.
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PLAN A CAMPAIGN Think about the suffragists and suffragettes and their long campaign to gain the right to vote. Now… plan your own campaign. You may want to do this as a diagram. With thanks to UK Feminista for the idea ukfeminista.org.uk
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First decide your aim: what change do you want to see in the world as a result of your campaign?
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What tactics will you use? Letter writing? Demonstrations? Challenging the law?
What methods will you use? Militant or peaceful? Petitions? Boycotts? Social media?
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NAME IT! What will you call your campaign?
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What are your key messages? If you had just 30 seconds to convince someone, what would you say? Draw up key points.
2
Why hasn’t this change happened yet? What is preventing this change? For instance, suffragists and suffragettes had to overcome huge prejudices about women’s role in society when they were campaigning for the vote. Think about the reasons why the change hasn’t happened and how you can overcome them.
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Who is your target? Who do you need to convince? Who needs to be the focus of your campaign? Your local councillor? Members of Parliament? Big business? Or one specific business?
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ACTIVITY
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What is your objective? What do you need to achieve to force the change? Your objective has to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and needs to happen within a certain amount of time. Write down your objective.
VICTORY...
YOUR PL AN WORKED!
Keep checking the progress of your campaign? Think about what works and what does not work.
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“And now a still wider field is open to the women of the nation. They are at last citizens in the fullest sense of the word.” Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 9 February 1918
WINNING THE VOTE
B
y 1914 many of the leading WSPU members were in prison and the organisation had been virtually driven underground. Christabel Pankhurst, for instance, had fled to Paris. Campaigning continued but other events soon took over. In August 1914 Britain and Germany went to war. The war, which became known as the First World War because so many countries were involved, changed everything. Across the country most suffrage organisations stopped campaigning and turned their energies into helping the war effort. Reflecting what was happening elsewhere, the local NUWSS suspended political work and members offered their help. With Jane Strickland’s help, the local Suffrage Club became an ‘aid bureau’ to help refugees and others suffering from war. Although women had still not gained the vote, many demanded their right to work. During the war women worked as drivers, factory workers, policewomen, nurses and doctors, replacing the men sent off to the front, and many doing work that had previously only been done my men. Some women joined the newly formed women’s branches of the armed
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forces, unthinkable before the demands of war. However, not all women supported the war. Quite a number, including Muriel Matters were anti-war and campaigned for peace. Fighting ended in 1918 and the world had changed. Women had played a major role and the Government could no longer deny them the vote. On 6 February 1918, the Representation of the People Act was passed. After so many years of campaigning, property owning women over 30 finally won the vote. It was a great victory. Women all over the country celebrated and there were joyous scenes in the House of Commons when Millicent Fawcett appeared. For Hastings activist Isabella Harrison it was “the greatest reform bill ever passed in any country.” The victory though was only partial. Some 8.5 million women now had the vote but this only amounted to 40% of women. Women without property, particularly working-class women, were excluded. Ten years later however, in 1928 total victory was achieved when women finally gained the vote equally with men.
First-time voters Women voted for the first time in the general election of December 1918. In Hastings the weather was dreadful but local women turned out in great numbers to cast their vote. According to the Hastings Observer, the oldest woman voter was 92 and in some wards more women voted than men.
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FACTS AT A GLANCE 1918
November: Suitably qualified women can stand for election to Parliament. December: Seventeen women stand for Parliament, including Christabel Pankhurst who stands for the Women’s Party in Smethwick. She is defeated by a male Labour candidate. Only Countess Markievicz is elected, the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons. An Irish Republican, she refuses to take the oath of allegiance to Britain and the royal family so does not take her seat.
1919
November: Conservative Viscountess Lady Astor is elected to the House of Commons, becoming the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons. Annie Lile, of 13 Pevensey Road, St Leonards, becomes the first woman to be elected to Hastings Borough Council.
1923 Geologist and women’s rights activist Maria Gordon stands
unsuccessfully as Liberal parliamentary candidate in Hastings.
1924 Muriel Matters stands unsuccessfully as a Labour Parliamentary candidate.
1992 Hastings and Rye elects its first woman MP, Tory Jacquie Lait. 2010 Hastings and Rye elects its second woman MP, Tory Amber Rudd 2017 General election: A record 208 women are elected to the House of
Commons. They still make up only 32% of MPs. Women still have a long way to go before they are equally represented.
“Women voted extraordinarily well in all wards and quite disapproved the idea that they would not take sufficient interest to vote.”
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Hastings and St Leonards Observer on local women voting for the first time. December 1918
BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography, Jane Purvis (Routledge, 2002) Eve and the New Jerusalem: Socialism and Feminism in the Nineteenth Century, Barbara Taylor (Virago, 1983) Feminism: A Very Short Introduction, Margaret Walters (OUP, 2005) Independent Women: Work and Community for Single Women, Martha Vicinus (Virago, 1985) Miss Muriel Matters, Robert Wainwright (Allen & Unwin, 2017) Notable Sussex Women, Helena Wojtczak (The Hastings Press, 2008) The British Women’s Suffrage Campaign 1866-1928, Harold L. Smith (Routledge, 2nd edition, 2007) The Cause: A Short History of the Women’s Movement in Great Britain, Ray Strachey (Virago, 1978, first published 1928) Turbulent Spinsters: Women’s Fight for the Vote in Hastings & St Leonards, Ann Kramer (Circaidy Press, 2018) Votes for Women, Paula Bartley (Hodder Education, 2007) Women in Public: The Women’s Movement 1850-1900, Patricia Hollis (George Allen & Unwin, 1979) Women’s Suffrage: A Short History of a Great Movement, Millicent Fawcett (first published 1912, available online: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/48614/48614-h/48614-h.htm)
JOURNALS/PERIODICALS Hastings and St Leonards Observer: 1867–1914 The Hastings Pictorial Advertiser The Times digital archive
WEBSITES www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk www.hastingspress.co.uk/history/historyindex.html www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/ electionsvoting/womenvote/overview/petitions/ www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/ commons-select/petitions-committee/petition-of-the-month/ votes-for-women-the-1866-suffrage-petition/
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From 1871 to 1918, Hastings and St Leonards were hotbeds of political activity. In this book you will meet some of the leading campaigners in local women’s fight for Votes for Women. You’ll also find some activities. Make a banner, plan a march and learn from suffragists and suffragettes the best tactics to use for your own campaigns.
