IMAGES OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
SUFFRAGETTES
IMAGES OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIEVES
SUFFRAGETTES
Lauren Willmott
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by
Pen & Sword History
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Pen & Sword Books Ltd
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Copyright Lauren Willmott, 2018
ISBN 978 1 52672 945 3
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GLOSSARY
the right to vote in political elections.
an advocate of extending voting rights to women. It can include both militant and non-militant activists.
women seeking the vote through militant methods.
KEY SUFFRAGE SOCIETIES
Actresses Franchise League (AFL)
East London Federation of Suffragettes (ELFS)
Mens Committee for Justice to Women
Mens League for Womens Suffrage
National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)
New Constitutional Society for Womens Suffrage
Suffrage Vigilance League
Womens Freedom League (WFL)
Womens Political and Social Union (WSPU)
Womens Tax Resistance League
INTRODUCTION
On 20 June 1837, Princess Alexandrina Victoria was pronounced Queen Victoria of Britain. With an annual income of 385,000 (the equivalent of approximately 17 million today) and an Empire that soon encompassed one-fifth of the worlds population, she became the richest and most powerful woman not only in Britain, but in the world.
Elsewhere in Britain, married women were not even able to own property, let alone an Empire, nor were respectable women expected to work. A womans place, as dictated by the patriarchal ruling of Victorian Britain, was in the home, nurturing a family. Respectable men, on the other hand, were the breadwinners, the providers and protectors of the family. Despite the young Queen heading the government, she was considered a temporary anomaly; with her male advisors, male MPs and male Prime Minister as voted for by a small number of men politics remained, very much, a mans world.
Yet, some women were not content to remain in these distinct and prescribed spheres. One by one, the restrictions imposed on them were gradually challenged. Sometimes this was by lone individuals, such as Caroline Norton who demanded, successfully, custody of her children after her husband absconded with them. More often, though, these challenges were raised by small women-only organisations and committees, which were springing up across the country, campaigning to overturn specific issues. In 1859, the Society for Promoting Womens Employment was established, followed by the Married Womens Property Committee. The Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act was founded, led by Josephine Butler. The Association campaigned to overturn the double standards of the Contagious Diseases Act of 1864, which aimed to check venereal disease in the army by arresting and examining prostitutes only. It took twenty years of campaigning before the act was finally repealed in 1886.
Perhaps, though, the most iconic element of this emerging Victorian feminism was the struggle for the vote. The first claim for womens votes came in response to the expansion of male in 1867 for more working-class men than ever before. If they can vote, some women began to ask, why cant we? John Stuart Mills bold suggestion to change man to person in amendments to the Reform Act was thoroughly quashed by an overwhelming majority of MPs. This setback, however, did not deter Lydia Becker, Millicent Fawcett and hundreds of others, who were about to embark upon a fifty-year arduous journey to transform womens lives.
To do this, they demanded the vote, a say in the political arena to enable moral, social and cultural improvements for women. With this, womens suffragism was born.
Throughout this book, we will delve into the world of suffrage. Using documents and images from The National Archives, we will trace this journey, and gain a unique insight into the trials, tribulations and turmoil of the suffrage struggle. The story of the Pankhursts headstrong leadership and the dramatic Derby Day death of Emily Wilding Davison has become embedded in popular consciousness, but the story of suffragism is much bigger than a few fervent militants. We will follow the story of thousands of individual women (and men), in dozens of organisations across the nation, each of whom contributed to the long fight against patriarchal rule and oppression and how they were ultimately able to emerge victorious.
CHAPTER 1
THE WOMAN QUESTION, 18671903
The Victorian era sees huge changes: railways are rapidly criss-crossing Britain, London becomes home to the worlds first underground tube in 1863, and there is a population rise to match the dizzying growth of industrialisation. Amidst this progressive momentum, new ideas are springing up that challenge the norms. In 1848, millions of working class Chartists call for universal manhood suffrage; Charles Darwins 1858 theory of evolution initially shakes prevalent Christian beliefs centred on creationism;, and democratic values are becoming high on the Liberal agenda in particular;.
