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3 At the start of the twentieth century, women were not equal with men. Women were seen as in charge of the home, while the man went out to work. Most importantly, they were not allowed to vote in national General Elections. Some people began to support the campaign to give women the vote (women’s suffrage).

4 The Victorians thought that the ideal wife was:  Angelic  Obedient  Pale and delicate  Silent  A possession (when a woman married her husband, her possessions and even the woman herself legally became her husband’s property)

5 Women had made progress in some areas. They were allowed to vote in local elections. In 1865, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first qualified female doctor. In 1879, Somerville College opened at Oxford University – the first female college.

6 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004 1867 – John Stuart Mills proposed bill to give women the vote – laughed out of parliament. 71 votes for 123 against – but most abstained. These bills were proposed more and more yet never passed. From then on these bills were proposed nearly every year. 1869 – Municipal Franchise Act gave single women the right to vote in local elections. 1870-1894 – women are allowed to be elected to school boards, poor law guardianship, parish and district councils. Politically 1870 Education Act ( 1872 Scotland) assured girls the same basic education as boys. 1870 Married Women’s Property Acts meant husbands no longer owned their property. Women were able to sue for desertion without going to the workhouse. From 1850 women gained educational, civil and political equality.

7 Suffrage Suffrage means the right to vote. When the Industrial Revolution began, the right to vote was limited to a small group of Anglican, upper class, land-owning men. The economic and social changes of the Industrial Revolution will slowly force the British government to give the right to vote to middle class men, then working class men, then married women, and then all women.

8 “ Suffragettes who have never been kissed.” Women seeking the vote were an easy target for low-grade humour.


10 Did women deserve the vote? Step 1: Look at both sides of the argumentStep 2: Think about different people having different opinionsStep 3: Try to answer the question Women can be teachers, lawyers and doctors. Women are not able to fight in the army so cannot defend the country. The number of women in work was increasing. Women do not want to vote. Not giving women the vote means that they are treated the same as criminals. Past experience shows that men are perfectly capable of governing without women. Women would be more likely to want social reforms which would better the conditions of the country. Women are increasingly involved in political activities, like trade unions. If women could vote they might abandon their families for politics. If women could vote, Britain would seem weaker to the other world powers. Women were allowed to vote in Australia, New Zealand and some parts of the USA. If more people could vote, the government would be able to say that it was more democratic and represented more people. Women can already vote in local elections which deal with ‘female’ issues. Women would be told how to vote by their husbands. Women could vote in local elections and had proven that they didn’t vote for radical or ‘wacky’ people.

11 An Anti-Suffrage Campaign Poster

12 Which step does each statement match up to? On the whole, women had proved that they deserved the vote because they had shown that they were capable of playing an intelligent role in society. Step 1: Look at both sides of the argument Step 2: Think about different people having different opinions Step 3: Try to answer the question Most women would have supported the arguments in favour of women’s suffrage, because they wanted to gain more power and influence. There were arguments in favour of women getting the vote, but there were also some arguments against it – mainly a fear of the unknown and that it was tradition that women did not vote. Most women would have supported the arguments in favour of women’s suffrage, because they wanted to gain more power and influence. On the whole, women had proved that they deserved the vote because they had shown that they were capable of playing an intelligent role in society.

13 Reforming Parliament In 1815, Britain was a constitutional monarchy. Yet, it was far from democratic: Less than five percent of the people had the right to vote. Wealthy nobles and squires dominated politics. The House of Lords could veto any bill passed by the House of Commons. Catholics and non-Anglican Protestants could not vote or serve in Parliament. Populous new cities had no seats in Parliament, while rural towns with few or no voters still sent members to Parliament. In 1832, Parliament finally passed the Great Reform Act. It redistributed seats in the House of Commons. It enlarged the electorate by granting suffrage to more men. 1

14 A New Era in British Politics In the 1860s, the old political parties regrouped under new leadership: The Tories became the Conservative party, led by Benjamin Disraeli. The Whigs evolved into the Liberal party, led by William Gladstone. In the late 1800s, these two parties pushed little by little for suffrage to be extended. By century’s end, almost-universal male suffrage had been achieved. In 1911, a Liberal government passed measures to limit the power of the House of Lords. In time, the House of Lords would become a largely ceremonial body, while the elected House of Commons would reign supreme. 1

15 During the 1830s industrialization led to rapid changes in British society, and some began to call for social and political reform. Growing prosperity of working, middle classes led to greater demands for political reform 1800, landowning aristocrats made up most of Parliament Some industrial cities had no representatives at all Only wealthy male property owners could vote; public office restricted to men of wealth Industrial Revolution 1830s, demands for reform too strong to ignore Liberals challenged old aristocratic, conservative order Reform Act of 1832 gave industrial cities representation Also gave voting rights to middle- class men who owned certain amount of property Women excluded from voting Reform Act of 1832 Social and Political Reforms

16 New Laws 1833, Parliament abolished slavery in Great Britain, all British Empire Government compensated slave owners depending on how many they freed Parliament also passed new public health and crime laws Parliamentary Reaction People’s Charter rejected; Chartists gained wide popular support, staged uprisings; large revolt, 1848 Chartists did not see immediate results but many reforms passed eventually Chartism 1839, group called Chartists worked for voting rights for all men Name from People’s Charter, petition sent to Parliament demanding voting rights, secret ballot, annual elections, pay for representatives in Parliament Other Reforms

17 Compare How did the demands of Chartism compare to the voting reforms passed in 1832? Answer(s): 1832 voting reforms redrew borough lines, extended vote to many middle-class property owners, gave parliamentary representation to many industrial towns, but not to industrial workers; Chartists called for additional reforms, extending the vote to all men, vote by secret ballot, annual elections, payment of representatives in Parliament

18 In 1837 Queen Victoria became the ruler of Great Britain. The Victorian Era lasted until 1901. It was a time of great change, including voting reforms that made the country more democratic. 1868–1885, two influential prime ministers, William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli, elected several times Disraeli and Gladstone Gladstone, Liberal party, took more progressive approach to solving society’s problems Disraeli, Conservative party, wanted to preserve traditions of past Liberal vs. Conservative Disraeli put forth new reform bill to extend voting rights to more working men; passed 1867 Another law created the secret ballot; discouraged bribery, intimidation Male Suffrage Victorian Era Voting Reforms

19 Disraeli argued that if a woman could be queen, she should be able to vote Tried to add women’s suffrage to 1867 reform bill but did not succeed Suffragists tried but made little progress for nearly 40 years; lobbied, signed petitions, educated public 1867 Reform Bill 1800s, women not seen as equals to men; could not own property, not legal guardians of their children Many women thought right to vote would increase power in society Queen Victoria against women’s suffrage, called it “mad, wicked folly” Question of Rights Women’s Suffrage


21 First wave feminism 1800’s - 1920’s Mary Wollstonecraft’s book “Vindication of the rights of women” 1792 In the book she attacked the educational restrictions that kept women in a state of "ignorance and slavish dependence." She was especially critical of a society that encouraged women to be "docile and attentive to their looks to the exclusion of all else." Wollstonecraft described marriage as "legal prostitution" and added that women "may be convenient slaves, but slavery will have its constant effect, degrading the master and the abject dependent." Concerns: women's social and legal inequalities education, employment, the marriage laws, and the plight of intelligent middle-class single women. They were not primarily concerned with the problems of working-class women, nor did they necessarily see themselves as feminists in the modern sense (the term was not coined until 1895). First Wave Feminists largely responded to specific injustices they had themselves experienced. Improvements: opening of higher education for women; reform of the girls' secondary-school system, including participation in formal national examinations the widening of access to the professions, especially medicine; married women's property rights, recognized in the Married Women's Property Act of 1870 some improvement in divorced and separated women's child custody rights. Women’s right to vote was an issue raised from the 1830’s through 1918 / 1928.

22 Mary Wollstonecraft, Frances Wright, and Margaret Fuller believed that giving women an equal education to that of men would do more to improve women’s position in society than voting rights.

23 The Origins of the Suffragist Movements Female suffrage - emerged as a political issue in Britain in the 1860s following Parliament’s refusal to replace ‘man’ with person in what would become the 1867 Reform Act bill. 19 th century: loose groupings of suffragists drawing on ideas and members from other campaigns, such as the Chartists and the Abolitionists – no dominant individuals or groups until the turn of the century. Trans-national movement, sought to redress the social injustice of male repression. British society – support for the idea that suffragism was a mental disorder ‘akin to epidemic hysteria, with its attendant symptoms of a loss of the normal sense of decency and of the normal use of reasoning powers’. Edward VII’s surgeon: ‘sexually embittered women’ who were clearly ‘life-long strangers to joy’.

24 A bit of background…… In 1850 women were thought of as second class citizens. People believed women were inferior to men – physically and mentally. Women were paid less than men, and tended to do less skilled work. They were excluded from many professions and it was thought that ‘a woman’s place is in the home’. Women were not allowed to vote in general elections. Women would lose their femininity in politics. Women weren’t well educated enough to vote. If women became involved in politics the home would suffer. Women were too emotional to handle the responsibility of the vote.

25 Caption: What a Woman may be, and yet not have the vote: Mayor, Nurse, Mother, Doctor or Teacher, Factory Hand What a man may have been, and yet not lose the vote: Convict, Lunatic, Proprietor of white slaves, Unfit for Service, Drunkard


27 Anti Suffrage

28 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004 A bit of background… Conservatives – against women voting, worried they would vote for liberal or labour. Liberals worried if property owning women were given the vote then they would vote conservative. Labour, started in 1900, were in favour of female suffrage but wanted all working class women to get the vote first.

29 The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was founded by Millicent Fawcett. It was an organisation set up to win the vote for women. By the beginning of the twentieth century it had over 500 branches. Members of the NUWSS were nicknamed suffragists.

30 The NUWSS 1897, National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies by by Millicent Fawcett - grew to have over 50,000 members. Adherents of peaceful protest - pragmatic rather than ideological as she thought that violent behaviour would only fuel traditional notions that women were too irrational to be worthy of suffrage. Strategy - the patient use of logical arguments to gain the vote. Argued that if women were bound by laws, surely they should have a say in their making. \And women even employed men who could vote when they could not! Very slow progress – converted some but the predominant feeling was still that women would not be able to understand the workings of Parliament.

31 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004 National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. Established 1897 by Millicent Fawcett. Methods Peaceful protest. Petitions to parliament E.g. 1910 presented petition with 250,000 signatures in favour of female suffrage. Propaganda Newspaper ‘The Suffragist’. Leaflets etc. In 1913 spend £45,000 on publicity.

32 NUWSS Large membership 1909 13,000 members 1913 100,000 members and 500 branches nationwide. Maintained support for peaceful respectful methods. Processions gained publicity. Large membership and propaganda meant they had a wide influence across Britain. Benefits of male membership. S. Holten argues pre war campaigning before the war was important for bringing women’s issues to the fore. Peaceful methods easy to ignore. By 1905 the press had were virtually ignoring them. Concentrated on a wide range of issues – not just female suffrage. Lost essential political support from Liberals from 1910.

33 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004

34 The suffragists followed traditional political methods in their fight to get the vote. They held meetings and demonstrations, signed petitions and wrote letters to MPs. The suffragists made people aware of the campaign for women’s rights, but not everybody was impressed.

35 The WSPU 1903, Women’s Social and Political Union founded by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia. The Union’s members became known as the Suffragettes - not prepared to be patient, willing to use violence. Peaceful until 1905, Christabel and Annie Kenney arrested for interrupting a political meeting. They refused to pay a fine, preferring a prison sentence to highlight the injustice that was being done to them. Emmeline Pankhurst’s autobiography: ‘..this was the beginning of a campaign the like of which was never known in England, or for that matter in any other country…we interrupted a great many meetings…and we were violently thrown out and insulted. Often we were painfully bruised and hurt.’ Violence committed by the WSPU members – burned down churches (CofE opposed to their appeals), planted a bomb in Westminster Abbey, vandalised Oxford Street shops and golf courses, firebombed the homes of politicians and sailed down the Thames hurling abuse at Parliament. Also used some non-violent measures however, such as refusing to pay taxes, chaining themselves to Buckingham Palace and welcoming arrests.

36 Emmeline Pankhurst started the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903. Its members were called the suffragettes. They set up a headquarters in London and hoped to draw more attention to women’s suffrage.

37 Emmeline Pankhurst Central leaders in the suffrage movement in Britain included Emmeline Pankhurst, a leader of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. Various women’s organizations in the West had circulated petitions, led marches, and held demonstrations to support their demands for the right to vote. After the refusal of government officials to offer full suffrage, Pankhurst advocated extreme militancy in pursuit of woman’s rights. She helped to organize assaults on private property and hunger strikes to promote her cause. Her militancy and the less radical activities of others helped women achieve suffrage.

38 WSPU Member’s Card

39 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004 Women’s Social and Political Union - 1903 Founded by Emmeline Pankhurst Motto ‘deeds not words’. Methods Believed in using militancy to gain the vote. Gained publicity through propaganda, leaflets, newspapers, marches and demonstrations. Series of 6 meetings in 1908 attracted more than 25,000 women to attend. 1908 Demonstration Hyde Park – £1,000 spent on publicity.

40 When the suffragettes moved to London, it provided opportunities for staging spectacular demonstrations. Women’s Sunday on 21 st June 1908 was a large meeting held by the WSPU. It brought suffragettes from all over the UK to march in seven different processions through central London to Hyde Park.

41 It was a highly organised demonstration attracting a crowd of 200,000 – one of the largest single demonstrations ever up to that time. Many dressed in the suffragette colours of purple, white and green and over 700 banners were carried. Emmeline Pankhurst spoke to the crowds and demanded that the government supported a bill for women’s suffrage.

42 The organisers persuaded the authorities to remove a quarter of a mile of park railings to accommodate the processions that gathered in Hyde Park. Amongst the brass bands, singers and parades were 20 temporary platforms erected in a circle around the park for 80 different speakers to address the crowds.

43 Which of these sources is the most useful to somebody trying to find out about Women’s Sunday? “I am sure a great many people never realised until yesterday how young and dainty and elegant and charming most of the leaders of the movement are. And how well they spoke – with what free and graceful gesture; never at a loss for a word or an apt reply to an interruption; calm and collected; forcible, yet so far as I heard, not violent; earnest but happily humorous as well.” Daily Mail, June 1908 A photograph of Women’s Sunday taken by a suffragette photographer in 1908 Step 1: What does each source say/show? Step 2: How reliable is each source? (Think about about who made it, when and why) Step 3: How useful is each source? (Think about what it shows and what is missing)

44 Which step does each statement match up to? This source thinks that the campaigners were “elegant and charming” and seems surprised by the success of the demonstration. Step 1: What does each source say/show? Step 2: How reliable is each source? (Think about about who made it, when and why) Step 3: How useful is each source? (Think about what it shows and what is missing) Since the source appeared in a newspaper and was written by a journalist, it should accurately reflect the events of the day and shouldn’t twist things to make them out to be better or worse. The photograph only shows one street leading up to Hyde Park. It doesn’t show the park itself or what is going on behind the camera – it is only a single snapshot of a single view. Since the source appeared in a newspaper and was written by a journalist, it should accurately reflect the events of the day and shouldn’t twist things to make them out to be better or worse. This source thinks that the campaigners were “elegant and charming” and seems surprised by the success of the demonstration. The photograph only shows one street leading up to Hyde Park. It doesn’t show the park itself or what is going on behind the camera – it is only a single snapshot of a single view.

45 Prime Minister Herbert Asquith sent a letter to Emmeline Pankhurst saying that he had nothing further to add to his previous statement: the government intended, at some point in the future, to bring in a general reform bill which might be amended to include female suffrage. Emmeline Pankhurst was disappointed and wrote: “our wonderful demonstration, it appeared, had made no impression on him”.

46 18 November 1910---Black Friday The British suffragettes were ladies with a fighting spirit. The women of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) were used to throwing stones and smashing the windows of government buildings. In 1910 their anger increased when a limited suffrage bill stalled in parliament. On 18 November a procession of women on their way to parliament came to blows with the police. On this 'Black Friday' 120 ladies were arrested and many others were assaulted.


48 They had a weekly newspaper called Votes for Women which had a circulation of 40,000 by 1914. They sold WSPU merchandise and chalked messages on pavements and buildings. However, “Deeds not Words” became their motto and they were prepared to act violently too.

49 Emmeline Pankhurst, Why We Are Militant, 1913 In the following document Pankhurst explains the reasons for the rise in militant behavior. “Know that in your minds there are questions like these; you are saying, "Women Suffrage is sure to come and how is it that some women are using violence to attain their end? Let me try to explain to you the situation. During the '80's [1880s], women, like men, were asking for the franchise more meetings were held, and larger, for Woman Suffrage than were held for votes for men, and yet women did not get it. Men got it because they were and would be violent want to say here and now that the only justification for violence for damage to property for risk to the comfort of other human beings is the fact that you have tried all other available means and have failed to secure justice from the moment we began our militant agitation to this day I have felt absolutely guiltless I tell you that in Great Britain there is no other way.”

50 Christabel Pankhurst “inviting members of the public to ‘rush’ the House of Commons on October 13 th ”

51 Deeds, not Words!---Violent Acts Chaining themselves to park railings Breaking shop windows Setting mailboxes on fire Sending a note on a cow to the prime minister Digging up golf courses Burning down railway stations and churches Knocking off policemen helmets


53 Militant Tactics 1905 Christabel Pankhurst arrested for pretending to spit at a police man. 1908 started stone throwing 1909 First Scottish militant demonstration takes place in Glasgow and Dundee. 1909 Imprisoned suffragettes start hunger striking. When government introduces force feeding 150 councils sent petitions to the government protesting about this action. 1910 18 th November ‘Black Friday’ – 150 suffragettes hurt in violence outside parliament. 1912-14 Wild Period begins – arson attacks, acid on golf courses, letter boxes. Telephone wires cut. David Lloyd George’s house burnt. Emily Wilding Davison, Slasher Mary Richardson attacked painting in National Gallery. 1,000 imprisoned by 1914.

54 The Swan and Edgar store in London is tidied up in 1912 after suffragettes shattered its windows.



57 Go to Prison! By breaking the law, the WSPU knew that they risked being punished. To prevent being recognized and photographed to protect their identity, they wore the fashionable big hats or veils to hide their face. Each time they took part in a violent protest, they were arrested, put on trial, found guilty, and sent to prison. There they were treated harshly, because the British government thought this would stop them from protesting again.

58 Spies To protect their identity from spies for the government taking pictures of them as they protested, the women wore large hats and fashionable veils. The hats also became a symbol for the suffragette. Secret Weapon of the Suffragette. The evolution of the ladies hat with the emancipation of women. An informative and humorous look at the ladies hat fashion as it reflected the early suffrage movement and became a visual weapon of empowerment. The consequences of the potential threat that a ladies hat had in the British courts that led to a change in court etiquette. The change of design of the ladies hat to reflect her new 'serious' position as she won her recognition and place in the white collar work force.

59 State Response Evidence of their movements – Scotland Yard ordered a camera lens to carry out the first secret surveillance photography in Britain against the Suffragists. Also, attended meetings and kept detailed notes on them. 1871 – became policy for all inmates to be photographed in prison, but civil disobedience continued by refusing to have their photographs taken, so they were either captured surreptitiously whilst exercising or forcibly held in front of the lens.

60 J.Doyle59

61 The suffragettes chained themselves to railings outside Parliament, broke windows and aimed to cause a nuisance. They even firebombed churches and attacked the house of David Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. As a result, many suffragettes spent time in prison.

62 As suffragettes became more militant and violent, arrests became common. When they were in prison, many suffragettes went on hunger strike and had to be force fed. This was very unpopular and used by the suffragettes in their propaganda.

63 The following day, Mary Richardson, a Canadian suffragette living in London, went to the National Gallery. She attacked the Rokeby Venus, a famous painting of a nude woman by Velazquez.

64 Richardson slashed the painting with an axe seven times before being overpowered by a policeman and gallery attendant. She was sentenced to six months in prison, the maximum allowed by law. The newspapers nicknamed her Slasher Richardson.

65 Which of these sources is the most useful to an historian trying to find out about the attack on the Rokeby Venus? Suffragette outrage - Rokeby Venus slashed with a chopper At the National Gallery, yesterday morning, the famous Rokeby Venus, the Velasquez picture which eight years ago was bought for the nation by public subscription for £45,000, was seriously damaged by a militant suffragist connected with the WSPU. The woman, producing a meat chopper from her cloak, smashed the glass of the picture, and rained blows upon the back of the Venus. Manchester Guardian, 11 th March 1914 Step 1: What does each source say? Step 2: How reliable is each source? (Think about about who made it, when and why) Step 3: How useful is each source? (Think about what it says and what is missing) I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history. Justice is an element of beauty as much as colour and outline on canvas. Mrs Pankhurst seeks to procure justice for womanhood, and for this she is being slowly murdered by a government of betraying politicians. Statement by Mary Richardson released by the WSPU after her arrest

66 Which step does each statement match up to? The newspaper should describe the events without bias, because it is designed to inform its readers. Mary Richardson is trying to justify the attack, so presents her opinion and not those of the people against the suffragettes. Step 1: What does each source say/show? Step 2: How reliable is each source? (Think about about who made it, when and why) Step 3: How useful is each source? (Think about what it shows and what is missing) The statement by Mary Richardson is useful because it tells us the motivation behind the attack and why she thought it was necessary. The newspaper describes the attack in negative terms, calling it an “outrage”, while Mary Richardson calls it “justice”. The newspaper should describe the events without bias, because it is designed to inform its readers. Mary Richardson is trying to justify the attack, so presents her opinion and not those of the people against the suffragettes. The statement by Mary Richardson is useful because it tells us the motivation behind the attack and why she thought it was necessary.

67 Were the suffragettes too violent? Step 1: Look at both sides of the argumentStep 2: Think about different people having different opinionsStep 3: Try to answer the question The suffragettes’ own newspaper was sold on street corners and spread the reasons why women should vote. They suffragettes chained themselves to Buckingham Palace as the Royal Family were seen to be against women voting. The suffragettes wrote petitions to Parliament – one in 1910 had 250,000 signatures. Golf courses were vandalised by the suffragettes. Suffragette meetings and demonstrations could be very large – one in 1908 had 200,000 attendees. Emily Davison, a suffragette, was killed as she tried to disrupt the running of the Derby. The suffragettes attacked politicians who they thought blocked female suffrage laws in Parliament. Some suffragettes refused to pay taxes. Suffragettes hired out boats, sailed up the Thames and shouted abuse through loud hailers at Parliament. One suffragette attacked a valuable painting at the National Gallery. The suffragettes would chalk slogans on pavements and buildings. The suffragettes tried to gatecrash political meetings and heckle the speakers. Churches were firebombed by the suffragettes because they thought the Church of England was against giving women the vote. The suffragettes sold WSPU merchandise – tea sets, postcards, scarves. The suffragettes broke windows along London’s famous Oxford Street.

68 Which step does each statement match up to? People who were directly affected by the violence would have thought that the violence was over the top. However, it convinced other people that the suffragettes were determined to succeed. Step 1: Look at both sides of the argument Step 2: Think about different people having different opinions Step 3: Try to answer the question It is true that they did use some violent tactics – they firebombed churches and attacked politicians. However, they used violent tactics alongside peaceful ones. Suffragettes were not only violent campaigners. By using both types of tactics, the suffragettes hoped to win support from a cross section of people. It is true that they did use some violent tactics – they firebombed churches and attacked politicians. However, they used violent tactics alongside peaceful ones. People who were directly affected by the violence would have thought that the violence was over the top. However, it convinced other people that the suffragettes were determined to succeed. Suffragettes were not only violent campaigners. By using both types of tactics, the suffragettes hoped to win support from a cross section of people.


70 J.Doyle69 EMILY DAVISON Daughter of Charles Davison and Margaret Davison Born at Blackheath, London in 1872 Successful at school Won a place at Holloway College Had to give up because mother was ill and could not afford fees. Became a schoolteacher in Worthing. Paid for herself to go to London University Became a private teacher Became a suffragette, 1906. Joined the WSPU.

71 J.Doyle70 March 30th 1909 One month in prison for obstruction July 30th 1909 Two months in prison for obstruction September 4th 1909 Two months for stone throwing at White City, Manchester October 20th 1909 One month for stone throwing at Radcliffe near Manchester November 19th 1910 One month for breaking windows in the House of Commons January 10th 1912 Six months for setting fire to postal boxes at Holloway, London November 30th 1912 Ten days for assaulting a vicar who she mistook to be David Lloyd George (PM) EMILY’S PRISON RECORD

72 J.Doyle71 EMILY IN PRISON On June 19th 1909 Emily Davison decided to make a protest against forcible feeding. Emily explained her actions in a statement issued by the WSPU. In my mind was the thought that some desperate protest must be made to put a stop to the hideous torture, which was now our lot. Therefore, as soon as I got out I climbed on to the railing and threw myself out to the wire-netting, a distance of between 20 and 30 feet. The idea in my mind was "one big tragedy may save many others".

73 J.Doyle72 The idea in my mind was "one big tragedy may save many others". THE BIG IDEA?? ???

74 J.Doyle73 THE NIGHT BEFORE On the eve of the Derby she went with two friends to a WSPU event in the Empress Rooms, Kensington. With a fellow-militant in whose flat she lived, she had planned a Derby protest without tragedy - a mere waving of the purple-white-and-green at Tattenham Corner, which, by its suddenness, it was hoped would stop the race. Whether from the first her purpose was more serious, or whether a final impulse altered her resolve, I know not. Her friend declares that she would not thus have died without writing a farewell message to her mother. Yet she sewed the WSPU colours inside her coat as though to ensure that no mistake could be made as to her motive when her dead body should be examined. EVIDENCE FROM SYLVIA PANKHURST

75 J.Doyle74 THE WITNESS She stood alone there, close to the white- painted rails where the course bends round at Tattenham Corner; she looked absorbed and yet far away from everybody else and seemed to have no interest in what was going on round her. A minute before the race started she raised a paper of her own or some kind of card before her eyes. I was watching her hand. It did not seem to shake. Even when I heard the pounding of the horses hoofs moving closer I saw she was still smiling. And suddenly she slipped under the rail and ran out into the middle of the racecourse. It was all over so quickly. Emily was under the hoofs of one of the horses and seemed to be hurled for some distance across the grass. The horse stumbled sideways and its jockey was thrown from its back. She lay very still. Mary Richardson – A suffragette.

76 Picture of the Derby tragedy. Most people are oblivious, still watching the race.

77 Emily Davison Davison’s body trampled by the horse

78 J.Doyle77 THE GUARDIAN REPORT The derby and the suffragette ---Tuesday May 13, 1913 "They had just got round the Corner, and all had passed but the King's horse, when a woman squeezed through the railings and ran out onto the course. She made straight for Anmer, and made a sort of leap for the reins. I think she got hold of them, but it was impossible to say. Anyway the horse knocked her over, and then they all came down in a bunch. They were all rolling together on the ground. The jockey fell with the horse, and struck the ground with one foot in the stirrup, but he rolled free. Those fellows know how to tumble. The horse fell on the woman and kicked out furiously, and it was sickening to see his hoofs strike her repeatedly. It all happened in a flash. Before we had time to realise it was over. The horse struggled to its feet - I don't think it was hurt - but the jockey and the woman lay on the ground. The ambulance men came running up, put them on stretchers, and carried them away. Most of the other jockeys saw nothing of it. They were far ahead. It was a terrible thing.“ Another version has it that the woman did not come from behind the rails, but had managed to stay outside when the mounted policemen cleared the course, and had concealed herself by crouching down, and that she ran towards the horse bending low without trying to seize the reins. All the accounts agree that she was struck with terrible force by the galloping horse, and that she rolled several yards before the horse lost its footing and fell upon her. The jockey, said one man, 'flew from the horse's back like a stone from a sling,' and it was doubtless only owing to his jockey's skill in knowing just how to fall that he was not far more seriously injured.

79 J.Doyle78 THE GUARDIAN (continued) The woman was far more seriously hurt, and the first report that spread about the course was that she was killed. She turned out to be one of the best known of the militant suffragists, Miss Emily Wilding Davison. It is said that underneath her jacket was found a suffragette flag tied round her body. A house surgeon at the Epsom Cottage Hospital a couple of hours after the accident reported that she was suffering from severe concussion of the brain. 'She has lain unconscious since the time of her admission,' he said, 'and it is impossible to say for a few hours whether her life will be saved.' The first clue to her identity was the finding of a paper in her possession bearing the words 'W.S.P.U. Helpers.' The people who were near enough to see what happened could not believe at first that the woman ran out deliberately. They thought she must have had the idea that all the horses had gone by, and had rushed on the course, as everyone does, as soon as the racers have passed. The only alternative to this theory in the mind of the crowd was that it was the deed of a mad person or a suicide, for it was about as dangerous a thing to do as it would be to throw oneself in the track of an express train. Anmer was the last of the string, and the last but one was Mr. Bronson's Agadir, ridden by Earl. The woman just missed Agadir, and Earl was the only jockey who got a glimpse of what happened. The race had been over for some moments before the news reached the stands and the King learnt what had befallen his jockey. He was standing in the Jockey Club at the time, and soon afterwards he looked on with great concern at the spectacle of the jockey, bleeding and with closed eyes, carried past on a stretcher towards the hospital. The King then went to tell the Queen what had happened. The doctor afterwards reported to the King that Jones had had a wonderful escape. One of his arms was injured and he was bruised all over, and one of his ribs was broken.

80 J.Doyle79 THE NEWSPAPER REPORT 1.Which newspaper is this report from? 2.What does it tell us about the attitude of the king to Emily? 3.What evidence is there to suggest that the witnesses were not sure about what happened in the race? 4.Why do you think the witnesses were not sure what had happened? 5.Jones (the jockey) refused to attend Emily’s funeral. Why do you think he did this and was he right not to attend? – give your reasons. 6.Do you think that people in 1913 would be impressed with Emily’s sacrifice? – give your reasons.


82 J.Doyle81 Jockey Herbert Jones King’s horse Anmer

83 Suffragettes stand guard over Emily Davidson’s coffin

84 J.Doyle83 The suffragette campaign got its first martyr. Emily Davison threw herself under the hooves of King Edward's horse, Anmer, at the Derby and suffered fatal injuries. At the time, her sacrifice horrified her opponents but inspired her supporters. Tens of thousands lines the streets of London as her coffin was borne past on its way to her final resting place in Northumberland.

85 J.Doyle84 In 1988 the contents of Emily Davison's handbag were examined. In it was found a return ticket to Epsom and a diary with appointments for the following weeks

86 The press continued to ridicule the movement. The caption says: “SHOULD WOMEN MIX IN POLITIX? NIX!”

87 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004


89 An edition of The Daily Mirror reporting on the arrest of Emmeline Pankhurst and other Suffragettes who marched at Buckingham Palace.

90 Go to Prison! They were handled roughly when arrested. They were then body-searched and bathed. Prison guards and female warders treated them like they were murderers. Poor food: Bread and water---led to getting sick Long nights---lights went out at 8PM and could not speak until morning Hunger strikes and forced-feedings


92 Emmeline & Christabel Pankhurst released from Holloway Jail, London, 22 December 1908

93 Jailed for Freedom Pin This prison door symbol was modeled after Sylvia Pankhurst's Holloway Brooch, representing the portcullis gate of Holloway Prison where British suffragettes were incarcerated.[ 20][ 20]

94 Emmeline Pankhurst arrested outside Buckingham Palace in 1914

95 A Suffragette demonstrates. The arrow at the top of the poster indicates that she has been imprisoned and earned the “Holloway Degree."

96 J.Doyle95 THE HUNGER STRIKE Started by a suffragette, Marion Dunlop 1909. Freed by the government who did not want her to become a martyr. Other suffragettes followed to get out of prison. Winsom Green prison, Birmingham started force feeding

97 Suffragettes Hunger Strikes On 25th June 1909 Marion Wallace-Dunlop was charged "with willfully damaging the stone work of St. Stephen's Hall, House of Commons, by stamping it with an indelible rubber stamp, doing damage to the value of 10s.“Marion Wallace-Dunlop According to a report in The Times Wallace-Dunlop printed a notice that read: "Women's Deputation. June 29. Bill of Rights.The Times It is the right of the subjects to petition the King, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitionings are illegal." Wallace-Dunlop was found guilty of willful damage and when she refused to pay a fine she was sent to prison for a month. Christabel Pankhurst later reported: "Miss Wallace Dunlop, taking counsel with no one and acting entirely on her own initiative, sent to the Home Secretary, Mr. Gladstone, as soon as she entered Holloway Prison, an application to be placed in the first division as befitted one charged with a political offence. Christabel Pankhurst She announced that she would eat no food until this right was conceded." Marion Wallace-Dunlop refused to eat for several days. Marion Wallace-Dunlop Afraid that she might die and become a martyr, it was decided to release her after fasting for 91 hours. Soon afterwards other imprisoned suffragettes adopted the same strategy. Unwilling to release all the imprisoned suffragettes, the prison authorities force-fed these women on hunger strike. In one eighteen month period, Emily Pankhurst, who was now in her fifties, endured ten of these hunger-strikesEmily Pankhurst


99 J.Doyle98 Emily Davison was sent to Strangeways Goal in September 1909, for throwing stones at the windows of the Liberal Club. Emily decided to go on hunger strike. This account was included in a letter that she wrote to a friend in Switzerland. In the evening the matron, two doctors, and five or six wardresses entered the cell. The doctor said "I am going to feed you by force." The scene, which followed, will haunt me with its horror all my life, and is almost indescribable. While they held me flat, the elder doctor tried all round my mouth with a steel gag to find an opening. On the right side of my mouth two teeth are missing; this gap he found, pushed in the horrid instrument, and prised open my mouth to its widest extent. Then a wardress poured liquid down my throat out of a tin enamelled cup. What it was I cannot say, but there was some medicament, which was foul to the last degree. As I would not swallow the stuff and jerked it out with my tongue, the doctor pinched my nose and somehow gripped my tongue with the gag. The torture was barbaric EMILY DAVISON ON HUNGER STRIKE

100 J.Doyle99 SUFFRAGETTES on FORCE FEEDING Constance Lytton was force-fed in October 1909. An account of her experiences was included in her book Prison and Prisoners. Two of the wardresses took hold of my arms, one held my head and one my feet. The doctor leant on my knees as he stooped over my chest to get at my mouth. I shut my mouth and clenched my teeth… The doctor seemed annoyed at my resistance and he broke into a temper as he pried my teeth with the steel implement. The pain was intense and at last I must have given way, for he got the gap between my teeth, when he proceeded to turn it until my jaws were fastened wide apart. Then he put down my throat a tube, which seemed to me much too wide and something like four feet in length. I choked the moment it touched my throat. Then the food was poured in quickly; it made me sick a few seconds after it was down. I was sick all over the doctor and wardresses. As the doctor left he gave me a slap on the cheek. Presently the wardresses left me. Before long I heard the sounds of the forced feeding in the next cell to mine. It was almost more than I could bear, it was Elsie Howley. When the ghastly process was over and all quiet. I tapped on the wall and called out at the top of my voice. 'No Surrender', and then came the answer in Elsie's voice, 'No Surrender'.



103 Forced Feedings of Suffragettes Prison doctors force-fed hunger strikers by pouring liquid food, milk and raw eggs, down a tube through their noses and into their stomachs. The doctors said this was done to save the protesters’ lives. The suffragettes said it was torture.



106 Proposed Bills Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004 1910 1 st conciliation bill 300 MP’s voted for it on 1 st reading Passed 2 nd reading by 100 votes. Asquith stopped the bill by calling a general election. 1911 2 nd Conciliation bill Passed 1 st reading 2 nd reading failed to get a majority. Presented again in 1912 but ruled out.

107 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004 1913 Bill presented to parliament again Passed 1 st reading Failed 2 nd reading by 47 votes. Government was busy with other issues. o Naval race with Germany in the lead up to W.W.I o Miners and Dockers strike o From 1910 Liberals depended on support from Irish nationalists. They would lose this support if they debated women instead of Ireland. Restricted Suffragette activity in wild period. E.g. banned hall owners from renting them to suffragettes.

108 The ‘Cat-and-Mouse’ Act Hunger strikes in prisons responded to by force-feeding - huge public outcry as this was traditionally meted out to lunatics rather than educated women. 1913 the ‘Cat-and-Mouse’ Act was introduced, which ordered that hunger-strikers should be released when they fell ill and re-arrested once they had recovered sufficient strength. If these women did not recover and instead died whilst on release then the government was able to exonerate itself from any blame or embarrassment. Their weakened state also meant that they could not engage in any violent activities whilst on release, so it provided the government with a very powerful weapon against the suffragettes. Edgar Holt: ‘it was an effective measure… and there were no more deaths from hunger strikes until 1920’.

109 Why do you think sources E and F were produced? Use the sources and your own knowledge to explain your answer. [8] Source E: A Suffragette poster showing a hunger-striking Suffragette being force-fed Source F: A Suffragette poster from 1913, attacking the Liberal Government

110 A poster protesting against the Cat and Mouse Act!


112 Public Response 1913 – movement gained it’s first real martyr when Emily Davison threw herself under the king’s horse during the Epsom Derby. This was however quite counter-productive – if this is what an educated woman does, surely no women should be allowed to vote? Most photographs issued in the press however showed police and mob brutality which increased public sympathy. Central to non-violence is an awareness that brutal repression can produce opposition to their opponents. Suffragists realised that they were gaining more than they were losing due to these incidents generating sympathy. Then deliberately tried to incite violent reprisals in order to unease and embarrass their opponents and encourage them to grant them their demands.

113 This was one of the Anti-Suffrage Propaganda Posters that appeared about the Hunger Strikes and Forced- Feedings.



116 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004 Why did women not have the vote by 1914? Government Attitudes and Actions. Attitude of public and press. Actions of the Suffragettes. Actions of the suffragists. Splits in the suffrage movement. To answer this essay question you need to explain how the factors above made it hard for women to get the vote. E.g. What were the splits in the movement AND how did this make it hard for women to get the vote.

117 World War One and the Extension of the Franchise It is arguable that, had it not been for the First World War, the violent actions of the militant suffragists might have escalated even further February 1913, blew up part of David Lloyd George’s house – a man who was widely considered to be a supporter of women’s rights But when war broke out break out, Pankhurst and Fawcett told their members to cease their campaigns and lend their full support to the war effort and the government. Certain groups did continue campaigning but far less publicly and often carried out war-work simultaneously. 1918, ‘Representation of the People Act’ extended the franchise to certain women – result of campaigns or the work done by women during the war years?

118 Key points Before the war, the most common employment for a woman was as a domestic servant. However, women were also employed in what were seen to be suitable occupations e.g. teaching, nursing, office work.

119 Key points When war broke out in August 1914, thousands of women were sacked from jobs in dressmaking, millinery and jewellery making.They needed work – and they wanted to help the war effort.

120 Key points Suffragettes stopped all militant action in order to support the war effort.

121 Women proved they were more than able to adapt to supposedly ‘men only’ environments.

122 A woman working in a munitions factory in Wrexham

123 Key points The shell shortage crisis in 1915 began to change the situation. Women were taken on to work in munitions factories. The government did a deal with the trade unions, known as the Treasury Agreements. The unions agreed to accept female labour in place of men ‘for the duration of the war’.

124 Key points The armed forces also employed women, but the jobs were mainly of a clerical and domestic nature.


126 Key points Women were in great demand for the ‘caring’ side of employment and became nurses in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, and drivers and clerks in Voluntary Aid Detachments. VAD’s

127 After the War 1Women were expected to give way to men returning from the forces and return to pre-war ‘women’s work’. 2The assumption that ‘a woman’s place is in the home’ returned. 3The percentage of women at work returned to pre-war levels. 4More women than before worked in offices.

128 After the War 5Shorter skirts and hair became fashionable. 6Women went out with men without a chaperone. 7Women smoked and wore make-up in public for the first time. 8In 1919: being female or married was no longer allowed to disqualify someone from holding a job in the professions or civil service.

129 Right to Vote Given 1918, Parliament granted vote to women over age 30  By 1928 voting rights for British women over the age of 21 were on the same basis as British men.

130 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004 February 6 th 1918 The Representation of the People Act decreed : All women over 30 who were married to property owners or who owned property themselves were allowed to vote in parliamentary elections. ERH This enfranchised 8 million women

131 Miss Stockdill CDHS 2004 Olive Schreiner 1918 “Many women have now the vote and are part of the governing power of their nation – all will have it soon”.

132 Emmeline Pankhurst’s statue in Westminster, London



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