Suffragettes Movement

The struggle to obtain equal rights for women can be said to have begun in 1792 with the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft's book, Vindication of the Rights of Women; but as a political issue and something more than just a vague desire, it can be conveniently dated from 1867 when the philosopher John Stuart Mill brought in a Women's Suffrage amendment to The Reform Bill . this amendment was rejected .Mrs. Pankhurst had been connected with the Manchester Suffragist movement from 1889 and by 1901 she was on the committee.

During the next twenty years, agitation was kept up by the various branches of the National Society for Women's Suffrage which sprang up all over the country under the leadership of Mrs. Henry Fawcett. These societies, though very active, were intent on achieving their ambition by constitutional means and enlisted the sympathy of a great many politicians. Certain minor gains were made but the real goal - the vote for women - was as far off as ever due to the fierce hostility of the men in power. The quiet, reasonable approach of Mrs. Fawcett's Suffragists appeared to have failed. Now a new tactic came into being, the method of Mrs. Pankhurst's Suffragettes. decided that shock tactics might be more effective.

		In this way the Women's Social and Political Union was formed and later became the Militant Suffrage Society. They were to begin with a very small group, hardly bigger than the Pankhurst family. There was Mrs. Pankhurst with her three daughters, Christabel, Sylvia and Adela, a teacher called Theresa Billington and about twenty other women. Soon there arrived to join them a valuable new recruit, a mill-girl named Annie Kenney who was to be sacked from her job at the mill and became practically a member of the Pankhurst family. From now on, she was a full-time worker for the cause. The attacking phase had begun.
Mrs. Pankhurst pictured here with her daughter she has just been released from Pankhurst prison December 1908 Mrs. Pankurst had been connected with the Manchester Suffragettes movement from 1889.

The W.S.P.U. began operations in Manchester and right from the start they meant business. They denied themselves all luxuries so that the money could go to the cause. They submitted themselves to a strict discipline and worked ceaselessly to put their viewpoint before the public.

In 1905, at a large meeting of the Liberal Party, there came the incident which put the Suffragettes on the offensive. Annie Kenney waving a small white banner emblazoned - " Votes for Women ' - asked the speaker, Sir Edward Grey, if the Liberal Party would give women the vote. The question was ignored and she shouted the question again. She was joined by Christabel and a riot ensued, ending when the two women were summarily ejected from the hall by the stewards and the police. Annie and Christabel were brought up for trial for assaulting the police,fines were imposed on them with the option of going to gaol for seven days they chose prison.

They decided to switch the scene of operations to the enemy headquaters - London , Annie Kenney was sent on ahead as organiser and so well did she play her part that on the day when the new Parliament assembled, 350 women marched to Caxton Hall where they held a protest meeting. Soon the Suffragette Movement had developed into a tremendous force. Its membership and sympathisers included women - and men - from all classes of society, while its increase in numbers made it no longer possible for its enemies to dismiss it as the cranky notion of a few women. The Suffragettes were helped, too, rather than hindered by the stupidity and brutality of those in authority. Time and again, these brave women were sent to prison where they were treated with less consideration than the commonest and vilest criminal. They were locked up in narrow cells with practically no ventilation. They were denied the customary hour of exercise. When they protested they were put in solitary confinement or strapped up in leather jackets. They were occasionally handcuffed for a whole day, their hands only being freed for meals. When they went on hunger strike, they were forcibly fed. A great many people, who had not cared one way or the other about votes for women, changed their minds when they learned of such indignities.

During the general election of 1906, the Manchester Suffragettes were perpetually in action and grew in numbers, the struggle gained ferocity. The Suffragettes invaded the House of Commons and were thrown out. They travelled all over the country, whenever there was a by-election, and made life miserable for the candidate who did not support their cause. In Devon at the beginning of 1908, Mrs. Pankhurst was severely beaten up by vehement members of the crowd, only one of whom was punished with a fine of five shillings. At another meeting, a young woman who resented the candidate's remarks about the Suffragettes, signalised her displeasure by turning up at all his subsequent meetings armed with a large and very loud muffin bell. On 21st June, 1908, the largest gathering ever witnessed in Hyde Park was organised by the women who were supervised by a total of no less than six hundred police.

		The government, still took no notice and refused to meet a delegation from the various organisations that had assembled. Twenty-one Suffragettes attempted to rush the House of Commons. One drifted in a dirigible balloon over the building on what was probably the first leaflet raid. Three members of the Women's Freedom League went into the Ladies' Gallery of the House, chained themselves to the grille with padlocks and kept shouting: "Votes for Women! " A locksmith had to be fetched before they could be removed. On one occasion, a vehicle made up to represent a Black Maria appeared in the streets. Women in prison dress descended from it and began chalking the streets and distributing hand bills to passers-by. In Glasgow, a girl climbed on to the roof of St. Andrew's Hall and lay there in a downpour, interrupting a meeting inside by calling down through a skylight. One Member of Parliament had just begun his speech when he was interrupted by Suffragette slogans which came, apparently, from an organ in the hall. Two women had hidden in it all night.
Dr. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Mrs. Pankhurst at Westminster November 1910 they went on to force their way into the House		Ladders had to be fetched to get them out and the meeting was abandoned.

In 1909, the new Parliament formed a committee for Women's Suffrage which came to be known as the Conciliation Committee. The Conciliation Bill was drawn up with the object of granting the vote to about a million women householders. The Suffragettes called a truce during which they indulged only in propaganda. Between July and September, no less than four thousand meetings took place. By November, it became obvious that the Bill was being quietly side-tracked.

A deputation of the W.S.P.U. went to the House and there was a violent scene during which the Prime Minister was showered with glass and one of his colleagues had his hat kicked to pieces by the infuriated women. The truce was ended on that day which came to be called Black Friday and which ended with the arrest of over a hundred women. From then on, the Suffragettes abandoned any attempt at moderation. A campaign of window-smashing was started. The windows of the big West-End stores were shattered as were the windows of houses and offices belonging to those hostile to the cause. From the beginning of 1913, the policy of violence was stepped up to include fire-raising. Two churches were burnt down and Lloyd George's house set on fire. Attempts were also made to cut pictures from their frames in the National Gallery.

There were hundreds of arrests including most of the Suffragette leaders who promptly went on hunger strike. Forcible feeding having been discontinued, the The Home Secretary introduced the Prisoners' Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Bill. Prisoners released on licence under this bill - the famous Cat and Mouse Bill were sent to a house, nicknamed Mouse Castle by the Suffragettes, and there they were nursed back to health under police supervision.

Time and again, many of them, including Annie Kenney, escaped in disguise and turned up at meetings to continue the struggle.

In 1913, Emily Davison became the first martyr to the cause recently released from prison after serving a six months' sentence for firing a letter-box. She went straight to the Derby and stationed herself at Tattenham Corner with a Suffragette petition in her hand. As the King's horse came galloping up, she rushed out and threw herself in front of it. She died four days later from the injuries she received.

Throughout the year 1914, the Suffragettes kept up the pressure and in May of that year, they made an attempt to reach Buckingham Palace where they hoped to present a petition to the King . But war was gathering over Europe and the deadly battle with Germany was soon to over shadow the question of Votes for Women . During the war, women proved themselves capable, willing to share in the work and responsability for driving ambulances, making ammunitions, working on farms, and taking the place of the men who were fighting at the front.

There was no longer any hostility to their demands; and the granting of their rights was merely a matter of time.
In 1928, the House of Lords gave its approval the Equal Franchise Bill by which women were entitled to vote on the same terms as men. The bill was passed quietly, without speeches, almost apologetically in the manner of someone repairing a rather obvious oversight.

Thus ended, undramatically, a struggle which had lasted just over sixty years and which had been waged, at times, with the most relentless bitterness on both sides.