Cropston And Thurcaston Cropston Evangelical Free Church

Article by Maja Tompkins

The Suffragette Movement

Mr Derek Holloway, one of our regular speakers, held our rapt attention as he told us the fascinating story of the UK women (and some men) who fought for more equal rights in areas such as voting, and equal pay for equal work. There were literally thousands of people who helped to bring about changes in the law, which took decades to achieve.

The campaign began in Manchester. One man called John Stuart Mill was elected to Parliament in 1865, when British society was very male-dominated. He tried to introduce legislation regarding equality of the sexes, but was outvoted. Women who wanted the vote were called Suffragists. Nothing much changed during the next 40 years, although similar Bills were presented almost every year. In March 1872 Doctor Richard Pankhurst spoke at a meeting in Manchester. Known as the Red Doctor, he was a barrister and social reformer. In the audience was his future wife, Emmeline. Her family was politically and socially aware. Her grandfather witnessed the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, where hundreds of peaceful protesters were injured and about a dozen killed, and she had been brought up attending frequent meetings. They married in 1879, and had three surviving daughters --- Christabel, Sylvia and Adela. In 1889 they founded the Women’s Franchise League. At that time the family lived in London and was quite affluent. Emmeline was a Liberal until 1892, but later joined the Labour Party. After Dr Pankhurst died in 1898, the family struggled for money. (Emmeline herself died just before suffrage was achieved in 1928.)`

Christabel trained as a lawyer (although this was a profession where women were not accepted). She returned to Britain when her father died in 1898. She helped to found the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union) in Manchester in October 1903, which was a radical branch of the union. Their slogan was “Deeds not Words”. They heckled politicians (then unheard of) and even stormed Parliament, enduring prison and hunger strikes. The police and the public initially treated them with ridicule and anger, and a 1905 Bill failed in Parliament.

Christabel was not allowed to practise law, and left the country when the so-called Cat and Mouse Act was passed. In 1914 she was sentenced to three years in prison. She also wrote a book called “The Great Scourge and How to End It.” In 1918 she actually stood for Parliament. Then she worked in America from 1921, returning to England in the 1930s. In 1938 she was made a Dame of the British Empire, and she died in 1958.

Sylvia attended the Royal College of Art. She was the official artist for the WSPU, and started making suffragette jewellery. One of her posters featured a suffragette represented as Joan of Arc. She was militant and was imprisoned, but she wanted more improvements. She was a pacifist and anti-colonial, and was opposed to the Great War. In addition to setting up food banks in London, feeding hundreds of people a day, she started a factory which made toys for poor children. Later she went to live in Ethiopia, and she died in Addis Ababa in 1958. She was so well respected for her work there that she was given a state funeral.

Adela Pankhurst, educated at an all-women horticultural college, was also left-wing and a pacifist, and committed to the cause. She was sent to prison and went on hunger strike. On release she went to Australia, and never saw her English family again. She founded the Communist Party of Australia (although later she became anticommunist). She married, but was imprisoned for her pro-Japanese views, and was released in 1943. She died in 1961.

The initial negative reactions to the WSPU slowly changed, aided by the judicious use of photographs taken at every opportunity to show female protestors chained to railings, etc. At that time, women were not even allowed to enter the Parliament buildings, let alone listen to debates. The Liberal party expected to win the next election, and the family moved to London and targeted the MPs. In October 1905 Emmeline Pankhurst and Annie Kenney disrupted a meeting where Mr Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey were speaking. They had smuggled in WSPU banners and flags, but the women were thrown out of the meeting, arrested, and fined in court. There was a huge amount of publicity in the newspapers.

In 1906 the Daily Mail newspaper used the term “suffragettes” for violent protestors. The Liberals won the election as expected. The WSPU moved to Clements Inn in London, and there was more sympathy for their cause (in New Zealand, women were already entitled to vote). They also gained support from the newly formed Labour Party. In 1907 the WSPU newspaper was founded, and the following year they chose their three distinctive colours of purple, white and green which were used in many items including their jewellery, sashes and banners. Women secretly sympathetic to the cause might ask their husband to buy them jewellery in purple, white and green … Crowds frequently gathered in Hyde Park on Sundays to hear various speakers, and sang a song called “The March of Women”.

Up to 200 women protestors a day were sent to Holloway Prison, a terrible and degrading place. They were searched, stripped, and put into a bath. They spent 23 hours a day in their cells which were only 9 x 6 feet. Women prisoners were cruelly treated and sexually assaulted, and many of them were left traumatised for years afterwards. The WSPU gave some of them a Holloway badge and a medal inscribed “For Valour”. On release, the WSPU took them to a hotel for a good meal, and invited the Press to publish their picture and write a report.

In 1907 the King’s Speech was expected to mention rights for women, but this did not materialise. Afterwards 324 women were arrested, and many sent to Holloway Prison. Prime Minister Asquith was generally reviled for letting them down. A board game was invented to highlight the history of the protests, loosely based on Snakes and Ladders. Postcards were produced, highlighting the point of view of both sides.

In the same year a newspaper was founded called Votes for Women. Women chained themselves to railings, and their photos were shown in the papers; early cinema newsreels also began to mention them. In 1908 a big protest was planned for June in Hyde Park, organised by a large formidable woman called Flora Drummond. Seven groups of marchers were to meet up, and around half a million people attended the rally. The publicity generated was enormous, and public opinion began to turn in their favour. In October another protest was organised for Trafalgar Square. Around 60,000 women faced 5,000 police, who issued many summonses. Press photographers had been briefed and did their job. In 1909 an exhibition was held which included a mock-up of a prison cell. PM Asquith rejected the Bill again, and Cabinet Ministers were attacked. Violent protest became more common. Some women on hunger strike came close to death and might have provided the cause with a martyr, which worried the authorities greatly. MI5

Special Branch became involved, and force feeding of stubborn prisoners was introduced, which had previously been used in mental hospitals. Mary Leigh was the first subject. Women were tied down during force feeding and were often assaulted. A rubber tube was forced down through their nostrils into the stomach, and a mixture of milk and raw egg poured in. Many victims were sick afterwards, and sustained injuries and mental scarring. Some women were force fed over 200 times. The Government eventually had to stop what essentially amounted to torture. For about a year an uneasy truce was observed, but when yet another Bill failed, things got ugly again. On Black Friday (18th November 1910), 300 women marched on Parliament. The police had been given free rein to act, and assaulted and arrested many of those protesting. Mr Winston Churchill, the Home Secretary, refused to hold an enquiry. One dedicated journalist interviewed every single woman arrested, and published his findings. The WSPU became very secretive.

In 1912 there was a massive campaign of smashing shop and office windows, which led to 200 arrests, with some women going to jail for nine months. Another campaign began, where people’s mail was intercepted and post boxes were destroyed, and the public became afraid to use the postal service. Someone took an axe to a Velasquez painting of a nude female in a picture gallery. The tea house in Kew Gardens was burnt down. Women started to make bombs. In 1913 a house being built for Lloyd George suffered damage, when one of two bombs planted went off.

A new Act of Parliament directed that imprisoned suffragettes could be released if their health deteriorated … but they would be arrested again when their health improved. This became known as the Cat and Mouse Act.

Miss Emily Wilding Davison, a teacher, was a militant and dedicated woman, who had been arrested and force fed many times. Just before the census was taken in 1911, she slipped into the Houses of Parliament and hid overnight in a cupboard. She then filled in her census form, giving that as her address. In 1913 she went to Epsom Racecourse and tried to attach a WSPU banner to the saddlecloth of the King’s horse. Waiting at the rails, she stepped forward as the horse galloped past, bringing down horse and jockey, and died soon after from a fractured skull, with her return rail ticket in her pocket. King George and Queen Mary were very upset. Around 5,000 people lined the streets for her funeral.

During May and July 1913 there was a bombing campaign, which particularly targeted buildings associated with men, such as cricket pavilions.

But world events soon dominated all other considerations, and when the First World War began in 1914 Emmeline Pankhurst suspended the WSPU campaign for the duration of the war. Two million women now did jobs previously done by men, which could be hard physical work, and dangerous jobs such as working in the munitions factories, where their skin turned yellow. In their free time women began playing football, and huge crowds attended the matches, but it was banned in 1921! In 1918 a Representation of the People Act was passed which broadened who could vote, and in March 1928 the vote was finally extended to all women aged over 21.

A statue was erected in the city in 2018 to Leicester woman Alice Hawkins, who had worked in the boot and shoe trade, and campaigned for women’s rights.

Several people had questions for Mr Holloway at the end. After we had enjoyed our tea or coffee and biscuits, the meeting closed at about 4 p.m. This whole subject is most interesting and complex, and you can find more information online or from your local library.

Our meetings start at 2.15pm, usually on the second Monday of each month. However, this year our Club outing will be a trip on a Peter Le Marchant canal boat on Friday, 5th May, just before the Coronation. On 12th June we shall hear about the work of InterCare, which is medical aid for Africa. Membership costs just £13.00 for the year, with an entrance fee of £2.00; and it is only £4.00 for visitors, to include tea / coffee and biscuits or cake. New members and visitors are most welcome to meetings – just turn up on the day.

Mrs Maja Tompkins

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