Hannah Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Hannah Mitchell was an English
suffragette
and socialist. Born into a poor farming family in Derbyshire, Mitchell left home at a young age to work as a seamstress in Bolton, were she became involved in the socialist movement
. She worked for many years in organisations related to socialism, women's suffrage
and pacifism
. After the First World War she was elected to Manchester City Council
and worked as a magistrate
.
, in the Derbyshire
Peak District
. The daughter of a farmer, she was the fourth of six children. She was not permitted a formal education, although her father taught her to read. She stayed at home performing domestic duties with her mother, with whom she did not get on. She was expected to look after her father and brothers, which she resented. Early on she became acutely aware of gender inequality
in the domestic sphere. She also observed the seemingly inevitable early marriages of girls around her to "farm lads", in order to avoid having children out of wedlock, and was keen to avoid the same fate. She later said in her autobiography that her mother was a bad-tempered and violent woman who sometimes made her children sleep in the barn. When she was 13 she became an apprentice
dressmaker, to earn extra money for her impoverished family. At the age of 14, after an argument with her mother, she left home and went to live in Bolton
, Lancashire
, where she found work as a dressmaker and in domestic service.
and attended The Labour Church
. She was particularly influenced by Robert Blatchford
's newspaper The Clarion
. At one meeting she attended, she heard Katharine Glasier
speak. In the house where she lodged
, she met a tailor
's cutter called Gibbon Mitchell. Although she was cautious about marriage, from her observations of her family members, the young couple both longed for their own home. They married in 1895 and she gave birth to a son. Because of the difficulty of this birth and the reluctance to bring more children into poverty, Mitchell resolved to have no more. She and her husband agreed to use birth control
and had no further children. As well as their son, the Mitchells also cared for an orphan
ed niece.
She soon found herself disillusioned by marriage. Although her husband initially agreed to her requests for an equal division of labour
in their household, she found that reality did not quite live up to this ideal. She continued to work as a seamstress to supplement Gibbon's meagre earnings, and found the rest of her time taken up with household chores. Like other women in the socialist movement, Mitchell struggled to convince male socialists of the importance of feminist
issues.
Mitchell began to speak publicly at meetings of the Independent Labour Party
(ILP). She joined, and worked as a part-time organiser for, Emmeline
and Christabel Pankhurst
's Women's Social and Political Union
(WSPU). She toured the country making speeches, and campaigned for women's suffrage at by-election
s. In 1907 she suffered a nervous breakdown
which her doctor put down to overwork and malnourishment. While she was recovering, Charlotte Despard
visited her and gave her money for food. In her autobiography she mentioned the hurt that she felt when none of the Pankhursts contacted her during her recovery. In 1908 she left the WSPU, and joined Despard's new Women's Freedom League
.
During the First World War, Mitchell supported the pacifist movement
volunteering for organisations such as the ILP No Conscription Fellowship and the Women's International League. In 1918 she started to work with the ILP again and in 1924 they nominated her as a member of Manchester City Council
. She was elected and served until 1935. She became a magistrate
in 1926, and for the next 11 years.
, which remained unpublished in her lifetime. After the war, she began writing for The Northern Voice and Manchester City News. Mitchell died on 22 October 1956 at home in Manchester. Her autobiography, The Hard Way Up, the Autobiography of Hannah Mitchell, Suffragette and Rebel, was edited by her grandson and published in 1968. There is a blue plaque
dedicated to her on the wall of the house that she lived in with her family in Ashton-under-Lyne
between 1900 and 1910.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
and socialist. Born into a poor farming family in Derbyshire, Mitchell left home at a young age to work as a seamstress in Bolton, were she became involved in the socialist movement
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. She worked for many years in organisations related to socialism, women's suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
and pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
. After the First World War she was elected to Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party and is led by...
and worked as a magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
.
Early life
Hannah Webster was born on 11 February 1872 in a farmhouse in Hope WoodlandsHope Woodlands
Hope Woodlands is an extensive civil parish in the High Peak district of Derbyshire in England.The parish covers the Woodlands Valley, the western Upper Derwent Valley, the northern half of Kinder Scout and much of Bleaklow. The only habitations in the parish are remote farms, forming small...
, in the Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
Peak District
Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
. The daughter of a farmer, she was the fourth of six children. She was not permitted a formal education, although her father taught her to read. She stayed at home performing domestic duties with her mother, with whom she did not get on. She was expected to look after her father and brothers, which she resented. Early on she became acutely aware of gender inequality
Gender inequality
Gender inequality refers to disparity between individuals due to gender. Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; binary gender...
in the domestic sphere. She also observed the seemingly inevitable early marriages of girls around her to "farm lads", in order to avoid having children out of wedlock, and was keen to avoid the same fate. She later said in her autobiography that her mother was a bad-tempered and violent woman who sometimes made her children sleep in the barn. When she was 13 she became an apprentice
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
dressmaker, to earn extra money for her impoverished family. At the age of 14, after an argument with her mother, she left home and went to live in Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, where she found work as a dressmaker and in domestic service.
Marriage and socialism
In Bolton, she started improving her education, originally hoping to become a teacher. One job she had was in the household of a schoolmaster, who allowed her to borrow his books. She became involved in the socialist movementSocialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and attended The Labour Church
The Labour Church
The Labour Church was an organization intended to give expression to the religion of the labour movement. This religion is not theological but leaves the theological for the individual to consider and contemplate.-History:...
. She was particularly influenced by Robert Blatchford
Robert Blatchford
Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford was a socialist campaigner, journalist and author in the United Kingdom. He was a prominent atheist and opponent of eugenics. He was also an English patriot...
's newspaper The Clarion
The Clarion
The Clarion was a weekly newspaper published by Robert Blatchford, based in the United Kingdom. It was a socialist publication though adopting a British-focused rather than internationalist perspective on political affairs, as seen in its support of the British involvement in the Anglo-Boer Wars...
. At one meeting she attended, she heard Katharine Glasier
Katharine Glasier
Katharine Glasier was a British socialist journalist.Glasier was born in Stoke Newington as Katharine St John Conway, the second of seven children. Her older brother was Robert Seymour Conway...
speak. In the house where she lodged
Lodging
Lodging is a type of residential accommodation. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, safety, shelter from cold temperatures or rain, storage of luggage and access to common household functions.Lodgings may be self catering in which case no...
, she met a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
's cutter called Gibbon Mitchell. Although she was cautious about marriage, from her observations of her family members, the young couple both longed for their own home. They married in 1895 and she gave birth to a son. Because of the difficulty of this birth and the reluctance to bring more children into poverty, Mitchell resolved to have no more. She and her husband agreed to use birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
and had no further children. As well as their son, the Mitchells also cared for an orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
ed niece.
She soon found herself disillusioned by marriage. Although her husband initially agreed to her requests for an equal division of labour
Division of labour
Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and likeroles. Historically an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialisation...
in their household, she found that reality did not quite live up to this ideal. She continued to work as a seamstress to supplement Gibbon's meagre earnings, and found the rest of her time taken up with household chores. Like other women in the socialist movement, Mitchell struggled to convince male socialists of the importance of feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
issues.
Mitchell began to speak publicly at meetings of the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
(ILP). She joined, and worked as a part-time organiser for, Emmeline
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote...
and Christabel Pankhurst
Christabel Pankhurst
Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, DBE , was a suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union , she directed its militant actions from exile in France from 1912 to 1913. In 1914 she became a fervent supporter of the war against Germany...
's Women's Social and Political Union
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom...
(WSPU). She toured the country making speeches, and campaigned for women's suffrage at by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
s. In 1907 she suffered a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
which her doctor put down to overwork and malnourishment. While she was recovering, Charlotte Despard
Charlotte Despard
Charlotte Despard was a British-born, later Irish-based suffragist, novelist and Sinn Féin activist....
visited her and gave her money for food. In her autobiography she mentioned the hurt that she felt when none of the Pankhursts contacted her during her recovery. In 1908 she left the WSPU, and joined Despard's new Women's Freedom League
Women's Freedom League
The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigned for women's suffrage and sexual equality.The group was founded in 1907 by seventy members of the Women's Social and Political Union including Teresa Billington-Greig, Charlotte Despard, Elizabeth How-Martyn, and...
.
During the First World War, Mitchell supported the pacifist movement
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
volunteering for organisations such as the ILP No Conscription Fellowship and the Women's International League. In 1918 she started to work with the ILP again and in 1924 they nominated her as a member of Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party and is led by...
. She was elected and served until 1935. She became a magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
in 1926, and for the next 11 years.
Later life
On 9 May 1939, Mitchell helped to organise a meeting of 40 ex-suffragettes in Manchester. Towards the end of the Second World War, she began work on her autobiographyAutobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, which remained unpublished in her lifetime. After the war, she began writing for The Northern Voice and Manchester City News. Mitchell died on 22 October 1956 at home in Manchester. Her autobiography, The Hard Way Up, the Autobiography of Hannah Mitchell, Suffragette and Rebel, was edited by her grandson and published in 1968. There is a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
dedicated to her on the wall of the house that she lived in with her family in Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines...
between 1900 and 1910.