Jane Robinson - Hearts and Minds

Wayward Women

Unsuitable for Ladies

Angels of Albion

Parrot Pie for Breakfast

Pandoras Daughters

Mary Seacole

Bluestockings

A Force to be Reckoned With

In the Family Way

TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS

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Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com

First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Doubleday

an imprint of Transworld Publishers

Copyright Jane Robinson 2018
Cover illustration Susan Burghart
Art direction by Sarah Whittaker/TW

Jane Robinson has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473540866

ISBN 9780857523914

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For Bruce,

Heart and Mind

MANY OF THE people who feature in this book were not thought important enough to record in official chronicles of the fight for the vote, or were too modest to imagine anyone being interested in who they were. It has not always been possible to acknowledge those individuals by name. There is nothing I can do about that except wait for serendipitous discoveries from readers. What I can do is acknowledge the support I have had in bringing their stories to light. Information, time, family histories, expertise, research tips, encouragement and inspiration have all been offered to me with generosity and enthusiasm, and I am enormously grateful.

Particular thanks must go to archivists and staff at the following cities, counties, museums and places of learning: Angus; Ashburne Hall at the University of Manchester; Birmingham; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the British Library at Boston Spa and in London; Cambridge University Library; Cambridgeshire; Cheshire; Columbia University, New York (Rare Book and Manuscript Library); Cornwall; Cumbria; Duke University, North Carolina (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library); East Sussex; Elizabeth Roberts Working Class Oral History Archive, Regional Heritage Centre, Lancaster University; Essex; Girton College, Cambridge; Guernsey; Houses of Parliament; Huddersfield (Kirklees); Ipswich; Lancashire; University of Leeds; Museum of London; The National Archives; Newnham College, Cambridge; Nottinghamshire; Oldham; Orkney; Portsmouth; Royal Albert Hall; Royal College of Physicians; Scotland at Edinburgh; Somerville College, Oxford; Southampton; Teesside; Walsall; Wolverhampton; and LSE library staff for access to The Womens Library collection.

Extracts detailed in my notes and references are reprinted courtesy of Birmingham Archives and Heritage; the Bodleian Library; Cambridgeshire Archives; Cornwall Record Office; Elizabeth Crawford with Francis Boutle Publishers and Routledge; Cumbria Archive Centre, Carlisle; Essex Record Office; Island Archives, Guernsey (Tooley Collection); Lancashire Archives; Museum of London Suffragette Collections; The National Archives; Newnham College, Cambridge; Nottinghamshire Archives; Oldham Local Studies and Archives; Parliamentary Archives; Portsmouth Library and Archive Service, Portsmouth City Council; David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Baskin Collection), Duke University, North Carolina; by kind permission of the Principal and Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford; Suffolk Record Office; West Yorkshire Archive Service, Kirklees; and Wolverhampton City Archives. While every effort has been made to contact copyright holders, the publishers would be pleased to hear from any not here acknowledged.

So many people have contributed to the book, one way or another, including Barbara Andrew, Kath Ashcroft, Neil Ashcroft, Peter Barratt, Lisa Baskin, Michael Blackamore, Anne Blunt, Kathleen Boet, Liz Carter, Rev. Colin Cartwright, Simon Colbeck, Beverley Cook, Elizabeth Crawford, Joe Davies, Minty and Binks Day, Dr Anne Dingsdale, Anne Blessley Evans, Roddy Greig, Sheila Griffiths, Catherine Harkin, Helen Howell, Anne Hughes, Victoria Iglikowski, Jess Jenkins, Jenny Kendall-Tobias, Dr Simon Murray, C. Oates, David Patrick, Lucy Pollard, Neil Preston, Alastair and Duncan Rabagliati, Josette Reeves, Stephen Robertson, Ruth Rowling, Caroline Rutter, Caroline Schimmel, Deborah Scriven, Diana Spence, Pat Stevens, Margaret Stewart, Dr Mari Takayanagi, Melanie Unwin, Brenda Updegraff, Valerie Warrior, Marie-France Weiner, Richard White, Catherine Wood and Neil Worthington. I should have got absolutely nowhere without them.

There is always a danger of getting carried away with acknowledgements: I feel like a best-supported actress flailing her arms in the spotlight and anxious not to leave anyone out. If I have neglected to name those I should have named, I apologize. And if I have made factual mistakes, it is my fault and no one elses. Before I am tempted to put on a sparkly dress, look for the kindest camera-angle and start sobbing with gratitude, I must just thank Dr Anne Manuel, Kate ODonnell, Sue Purver and Matthew Roper, my colleagues at Somerville College, Oxford, who have been forced to listen to the books progress week by week over morning coffee and biscuits; my peerless agent Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates and editor Susanna Wadeson at Transworld; and finally Richard, Ed and Bruce, who are my heroes.

THIS IS A book about ordinary people doing extraordinary things for the sake of democracy. At its heart is one of the most inspiring and neglected episodes in British history: a six-week protest march undertaken just before the First World War by thousands of suffragists, or non-militant supporters of votes for women, which changed their world and ours. They called it the Great Pilgrimage.

Mention votes for women to most people and a succession of stock images inevitably leaps to mind. In a haze of green, white and violet, a group of determined-looking Edwardian women strides towards us wearing sashes and top-heavy hats or the aprons and clogs of the factory floor. They carry placards Who Would be Free Must Strike the Blow or bricks; a few of them are being manhandled by policemen while the others raise their fists in protest. Ethel Smyths March of the Women is playing in the background. Alternatively, we see a young prisoner with wild eyes and loose hair, strapped down in her cell and being forcibly fed through a tube, or Emily Wilding Davison lying on the Epsom turf with her broken head wrapped in newspaper.