Women's Social and Political Union
Encyclopedia
The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
. It was the first group whose members were known as "suffragette
s".
on 10 October 1903 by six women, including Emmeline
and Christabel Pankhurst
, who soon emerged as the group's leaders. The WSPU had split from the non-militant
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
, disappointed at the lack of success its tactics of persuading politicians through meetings had found.
The founders decided to form a women-only organisation, which would campaign for social reforms, largely in conjunction with the Independent Labour Party
. They would also campaign for an extension of women's suffrage, believing that this was central to sexual equality. To illustrate their more militant stance, they adopted the slogan "Deeds, not words". By 1913, the WSPU appointed the fiercely militant feminist Norah Dacre Fox (later known as Norah Elam
as General Secretary. Dacre Fox operated as a highly effective progandist delivering rousing speeches at the WSPU weekly meetings and writing many of Christabel Pankhurst's speeches
Bamford Slack to introduce a women's suffrage Bill
they had drawn up. The Bill was ultimately talked out, but the publicity launched the rapid growth of the group.
The disappointment of the failure of the Bill led the WSPU to change tactics. They focused on attacking whichever political party
was in government, and refused to support any legislation which did not include their demands for enfranchisement, thus dropping their commitment to other immediate social reforms.
In 1906, the group began a series of demonstrations
and lobbies of Parliament, leading to the arrest and imprisonment of growing numbers of their members. An attempt to achieve equal franchise gained national attention when an envoy of three hundred women, representing over one hundred and twenty five thousand suffragettes argued for women's suffrage with the Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
. The Prime Minister agreed with their argument but "was obliged to do nothing at all about it" and so urged the women to "go on pestering" and to exercise "the virtue of patience". Some of the women Campbell-Bannerman advised to be patient had been working for women's rights for as many as fifty years: his advice to "go on pestering" would prove quite unwise. His thoughtless words infuriated the protesters and "by those foolish words the militant movement became irrevocably established, and the stage of revolt began." Commenting on the phenomenon, Charles Hands, writing in the Daily Mail
, for the first time described the WSPU's members as suffragettes. In 1907, the organisation held the first of several conferences
, called "Women's Parliaments".
The Labour Party
then voted to support universal suffrage
. This split them from the WSPU, which had always accepted the property qualifications which already applied to women's participation in local elections. Under Christabel's direction, the group began to more explicitly organise exclusively among middle class
women, and stated their opposition to all political parties. This led a small group of prominent members to leave and form the Women's Freedom League
.
In 1908 the WSPU adopted purple, white, and green as its official colours. These colours were chosen by Emmeline Pethick Lawrence because "Purple... stands for the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette... white stands for purity in private and public life... green is the colour of hope and the emblem of spring". June 1908 saw the first major public use of these colours when the WSPU held a 300,000-strong "Women's Sunday" rally
in Hyde Park
.
In February 1907 the WSPU founded the Woman's Press, which oversaw publishing and propaganda for the organisation, and marketed a range of products from 1908 featuring the WSPU's name or colours. From 1908 WSPU branches around the country, and from 1910 the Woman's Press in London operated a chain of shops as part of the campaign.
Until January 1911, the WSPU's official anthem was "The Women's Marseillaise", a setting of words by Florence Macaulay to the tune of the Marseillaise
. In that month the anthem was changed to "The March of the Women
", newly composed by Ethel Smyth
with words by Cicely Hamilton
.
to Britain, and the authorities' policy of force feeding won the suffragettes great sympathy from the public. The Government later passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913, commonly referred to as the Cat and Mouse Act
, which allowed the release of suffragettes when near to death due to malnourishment, but officers could re-imprison them once healthy. This was an attempt to avoid force feeding.
A new suffrage bill was introduced in 1910, but growing impatient, the WSPU launched a heightened campaign of protest in 1912 on the basis of targeting property
and avoiding violence against any person. Initially this involved smashing shop windows, but ultimately escalated to burning stately home
s and bombing public buildings including Westminster Abbey
. It also famously led to the death of Emily Davison
as she was trampled by the King's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby
in 1913.
Included in the many militant acts performed were the burning of churches, restaurants and railway carriages, smashing government windows weekly, cutting telephone lines, spitting at police and politicians, partial destruction of the then Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George
's home, cutting and burning pro-suffrage slogans into stadium turf, sending letter bombs, destroying greenhouses at Kew gardens, chaining themselves to railings and blowing up houses. A doctor was attacked with a rhino whip and in one case suffragettes rushed the House of Commons. On 18 July 1912, Mary Leigh
threw a hatchet at the Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith
. On 10 March 1914 suffragette Mary Richardson
(known as one of the most militant activists, also called "Slasher" Richardson) walked into the National Gallery and attacked Diego Velázquez
's Rokeby Venus with a meat cleaver. In 1913, suffragette militancy caused £54,000 worth of damage, £36,000 of which occurred in April alone.
The organisation also suffered some splits. The editors of Votes for Women, Frederick and Emmeline Pethick Lawrence, were expelled in 1912, causing the WSPU to launch a new journal, The Suffragette, edited by Christabel Pankhurst. The East London Federation of mostly working class
women and led by Sylvia Pankhurst
was expelled in 1914.
, in order to run the organisation without fear of arrest. Her autocratic
control enabled her, over the objections of Kitty Marion
and others, to declare on the outbreak of World War I
that the WSPU should abandon its campaigns in favour of a nationalistic
stance supporting the British government in the war. The WSPU stopped publishing The Suffragette, and in April 1915 it launched a new journal, Britannia. While the majority of WSPU members supported the war, a small number formed the Suffragettes of the Women's Social Political Union (SWSPU) and the Independent Women's Social and Political Union (IWSPU). The WSPU faded from public attention, and was dissolved in 1917, with Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst founding the Women's Party
.
Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom as a national movement began in 1872. Women were not prohibited from voting in the United Kingdom until the 1832 Reform Act and the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act...
. It was the first group whose members were known as "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...
s".
Formation
The WSPU was founded at the Pankhurst family home in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
on 10 October 1903 by six women, including 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...
, who soon emerged as the group's leaders. The WSPU had split from the non-militant
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies , also known as the Suffragists was an organisation of women's suffrage societies in the United Kingdom.-Formation and campaigning:...
, disappointed at the lack of success its tactics of persuading politicians through meetings had found.
The founders decided to form a women-only organisation, which would campaign for social reforms, largely in conjunction with 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...
. They would also campaign for an extension of women's suffrage, believing that this was central to sexual equality. To illustrate their more militant stance, they adopted the slogan "Deeds, not words". By 1913, the WSPU appointed the fiercely militant feminist Norah Dacre Fox (later known as Norah Elam
Norah Elam
Norah Elam also known as Norah Dacre Fox, was a radical feminist, militant suffragette, anti-vivisectionist and fascist in the United Kingdom. Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1878 to John and Charlotte Doherty, she emigrated to England with her family and by 1891 was living in London...
as General Secretary. Dacre Fox operated as a highly effective progandist delivering rousing speeches at the WSPU weekly meetings and writing many of Christabel Pankhurst's speeches
Early campaigning
In 1905, the group convinced the Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Bamford Slack to introduce a women's suffrage Bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
they had drawn up. The Bill was ultimately talked out, but the publicity launched the rapid growth of the group.
The disappointment of the failure of the Bill led the WSPU to change tactics. They focused on attacking whichever political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
was in government, and refused to support any legislation which did not include their demands for enfranchisement, thus dropping their commitment to other immediate social reforms.
In 1906, the group began a series of demonstrations
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
and lobbies of Parliament, leading to the arrest and imprisonment of growing numbers of their members. An attempt to achieve equal franchise gained national attention when an envoy of three hundred women, representing over one hundred and twenty five thousand suffragettes argued for women's suffrage with the Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman GCB was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also served as Secretary of State for War twice, in the Cabinets of Gladstone and Rosebery...
. The Prime Minister agreed with their argument but "was obliged to do nothing at all about it" and so urged the women to "go on pestering" and to exercise "the virtue of patience". Some of the women Campbell-Bannerman advised to be patient had been working for women's rights for as many as fifty years: his advice to "go on pestering" would prove quite unwise. His thoughtless words infuriated the protesters and "by those foolish words the militant movement became irrevocably established, and the stage of revolt began." Commenting on the phenomenon, Charles Hands, writing in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, for the first time described the WSPU's members as suffragettes. In 1907, the organisation held the first of several conferences
Meeting
In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....
, called "Women's Parliaments".
The Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
then voted to support universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
. This split them from the WSPU, which had always accepted the property qualifications which already applied to women's participation in local elections. Under Christabel's direction, the group began to more explicitly organise exclusively among middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
women, and stated their opposition to all political parties. This led a small group of prominent members to leave and form the 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...
.
Campaigning develops
Immediately following the WSPU/WFL split, in autumn 1907, Frederick and Emmeline Pethick Lawrence founded the WSPU's own newspaper, Votes for Women. The Pethick Lawrences, who were part of the leadership of the WSPU until 1912, edited the newspaper and supported it financially in the early years.In 1908 the WSPU adopted purple, white, and green as its official colours. These colours were chosen by Emmeline Pethick Lawrence because "Purple... stands for the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette... white stands for purity in private and public life... green is the colour of hope and the emblem of spring". June 1908 saw the first major public use of these colours when the WSPU held a 300,000-strong "Women's Sunday" rally
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
.
In February 1907 the WSPU founded the Woman's Press, which oversaw publishing and propaganda for the organisation, and marketed a range of products from 1908 featuring the WSPU's name or colours. From 1908 WSPU branches around the country, and from 1910 the Woman's Press in London operated a chain of shops as part of the campaign.
Until January 1911, the WSPU's official anthem was "The Women's Marseillaise", a setting of words by Florence Macaulay to the tune of the Marseillaise
La Marseillaise
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795...
. In that month the anthem was changed to "The March of the Women
The March of the Women
"The March of the Women" was the anthem of the English women's suffrage movement. It was composed in 1910 by Ethel Smyth as a unison song with optional piano accompaniment, with words by Cicely Hamilton. Smyth dedicated the song to the Women's Social and Political Union...
", newly composed by Ethel Smyth
Ethel Smyth
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, DBE was an English composer and a leader of the women's suffrage movement.- Early career :...
with words by Cicely Hamilton
Cicely Hamilton
Cicely Mary Hamilton , born Hammill, was an English actress, writer, journalist, suffragist, lesbian and feminist. She is now best known for the play Diana of Dobson's, with a setting in an Edwardian department store....
.
Campaigning becomes more militant
In opposition to the continuing and repeated imprisonment of many of their members, the WSPU introduced the prison hunger strikeHunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
to Britain, and the authorities' policy of force feeding won the suffragettes great sympathy from the public. The Government later passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913, commonly referred to as the Cat and Mouse Act
Cat and Mouse Act
The Prisoners Act 1913 was an Act of Parliament passed in Britain under Herbert Henry Asquith's Liberal government in 1913...
, which allowed the release of suffragettes when near to death due to malnourishment, but officers could re-imprison them once healthy. This was an attempt to avoid force feeding.
A new suffrage bill was introduced in 1910, but growing impatient, the WSPU launched a heightened campaign of protest in 1912 on the basis of targeting property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
and avoiding violence against any person. Initially this involved smashing shop windows, but ultimately escalated to burning stately home
Stately home
A stately home is a "great country house". It is thus a palatial great house or in some cases an updated castle, located in the British Isles, mostly built between the mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th century, as well as converted abbeys and other church property...
s and bombing public buildings including Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. It also famously led to the death of Emily Davison
Emily Davison
Emily Wilding Davison was a militant women's suffrage activist who, on 4 June 1913, after a series of actions that were either self-destructive or violent, stepped in front of a horse running in the Epsom Derby, sustaining injuries that resulted in her death four days later.-Biography:Davison was...
as she was trampled by the King's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
in 1913.
Included in the many militant acts performed were the burning of churches, restaurants and railway carriages, smashing government windows weekly, cutting telephone lines, spitting at police and politicians, partial destruction of the then Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
's home, cutting and burning pro-suffrage slogans into stadium turf, sending letter bombs, destroying greenhouses at Kew gardens, chaining themselves to railings and blowing up houses. A doctor was attacked with a rhino whip and in one case suffragettes rushed the House of Commons. On 18 July 1912, Mary Leigh
Mary Leigh
-See also:* Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom* Representation of the People Act 1918* Representation of the People Act 1928-External links:...
threw a hatchet at the Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
. On 10 March 1914 suffragette Mary Richardson
Mary Richardson
Mary Raleigh Richardson was a Canadian suffragette active in the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom and later the head of the women's section of British Union of Fascists led by Sir Oswald Mosley....
(known as one of the most militant activists, also called "Slasher" Richardson) walked into the National Gallery and attacked Diego Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
's Rokeby Venus with a meat cleaver. In 1913, suffragette militancy caused £54,000 worth of damage, £36,000 of which occurred in April alone.
The organisation also suffered some splits. The editors of Votes for Women, Frederick and Emmeline Pethick Lawrence, were expelled in 1912, causing the WSPU to launch a new journal, The Suffragette, edited by Christabel Pankhurst. The East London Federation of mostly working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
women and led by Sylvia Pankhurst
Sylvia Pankhurst
Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst was an English campaigner for the suffragist movement in the United Kingdom. She was for a time a prominent left communist who then devoted herself to the cause of anti-fascism.-Early life:...
was expelled in 1914.
WSPU during World War I
On the outbreak of war, Christabel Pankhurst was living in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, in order to run the organisation without fear of arrest. Her autocratic
Autocracy
An autocracy is a form of government in which one person is the supreme power within the state. It is derived from the Greek : and , and may be translated as "one who rules by himself". It is distinct from oligarchy and democracy...
control enabled her, over the objections of Kitty Marion
Kitty Marion
Kitty Marion was born in Westphalia, Germany in 1871. After moving to England, she became an actress and took the name Kitty Marion.-Life:...
and others, to declare on the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
that the WSPU should abandon its campaigns in favour of a nationalistic
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
stance supporting the British government in the war. The WSPU stopped publishing The Suffragette, and in April 1915 it launched a new journal, Britannia. While the majority of WSPU members supported the war, a small number formed the Suffragettes of the Women's Social Political Union (SWSPU) and the Independent Women's Social and Political Union (IWSPU). The WSPU faded from public attention, and was dissolved in 1917, with Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst founding the Women's Party
Women's Party (UK)
The Women's Party was a minor political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst when they dissolved the Women's Social and Political Union in November 1917....
.
Notable members of WSPU
|
Sophia Duleep Singh Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh was a prominent suffragette in the United Kingdom... Mary Gawthorpe Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe was a British suffragette, socialist, trade unionist and editor, described by Rebecca West as "a merry militant saint".... Nellie Hall Nellie Hall was a British suffragette and god-daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst after whom she was named.... Beatrice Harraden Beatrice Harraden was a British writer and suffragette.Born in London on 24 January 1864, Harraden studied in Dresden, at Cheltenham Ladies’ College in Gloucestershire and at Queen’s College and Bedford College in London, and received a bachelor’s degree... Edith How-Martyn Edith How-Martyn, nee How was a British suffragette and a member of the Women's Social and Political Union . She was arrested in 1906 for attempting to make a speech in the House of Commons. This was one of the first acts of suffragette militancy.-Life:Edith How was born in London in 1875, an... Ellen Isabel Jones Ellen Isabel Jones was an English Suffragette and close associate of the Pankhursts.... Annie Kenney Annie Kenney was an English working class suffragette who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union... Constance Lytton Lady Constance Georgina Bulwer-Lytton was an influential British suffragette activist, writer, speaker and campaigner for prison reform, votes for women, and birth control.Although she was raised as member of the privileged, ruling class elite within British Society, she rejected this... Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda Margaret Haig Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda was a Welsh peeress and active suffragette.In 1908 she joined the Women's Social and Political Union , and became secretary of the WSPU's Newport branch... Christabel Marshall Christabel Gertrude Marshall was a British campaigner for women's suffrage, a playwright and author... |
Kitty Marion Kitty Marion was born in Westphalia, Germany in 1871. After moving to England, she became an actress and took the name Kitty Marion.-Life:... Dora Marsden Dora Marsden was an English feminist editor of avant-garde literary journals, and an author of philosophical writings.-Early life:... Flora Murray Dr. Flora Murray, M.D. was a medical pioneer and a member of the Women's Social and Political Union suffragettes.Murray trained at the London School of Medicine for Women and finished her course at Durham. She then worked in Scotland before returning to London in 1905... Margaret Nevinson Margaret Nevinson was a British suffrage campaigner.Nevinson was one of the suffragettes who split from the Women's Social and Political Union in 1907 to form the Women's Freedom League... Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote... Frances Parker Frances Mary "Fanny" Parker was a British suffragette who became prominent in the militant wing of the Scottish women's suffrage movement and was repeatedly imprisoned for her actions.... Adela Pankhurst Adela Constantia Mary Pankhurst Walsh was a British-Australian suffragette, political organizer, and co-founder of both the Communist Party of Australia and the Australia First Movement.... 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... Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst was an English campaigner for the suffragist movement in the United Kingdom. She was for a time a prominent left communist who then devoted herself to the cause of anti-fascism.-Early life:... Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul was an American suffragist and activist. Along with Lucy Burns and others, she led a successful campaign for women's suffrage that resulted in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.-Activism: Alice Paul received her undergraduate education from... |
Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence was a Britishwomen's rights activist.Her father was a businessman... Mary Richardson Mary Raleigh Richardson was a Canadian suffragette active in the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom and later the head of the women's section of British Union of Fascists led by Sir Oswald Mosley.... Edith Rigby Edith Rigby was an English suffragette. She was a contemporary of Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst.-Biography:Born Edith Rayner on St Luke's Day in 1872 in Preston, Lancashire, she was one of seven children of Dr Alexander Clement Rayner and was educated at Penrhos College in North Wales. She... Elizabeth Robins Elizabeth Robins was an actress, playwright, novelist, and suffragette.- Early life :Elizabeth Robins, the first child of Charles Robins and Hannah Crow, and was born in Louisville, Kentucky. After financial difficulties, her father left for Colorado, leaving the children in the care of Hannah... Rona Robinson Rona Robinson was a British suffragette and in 1905 the first woman in the United Kingdom to gain a first-class degree in chemistry. It was awarded to her by Owen's College, Victoria University of Manchester.... Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford Dame Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, DBE, RRC, FLS was an English aviatrix and ornithologist.-Early and personal life:... Harriet Shaw Weaver Harriet Shaw Weaver was a political activist and a magazine editor. She also became the patron of James Joyce.... Frances Swiney Rosa Frances Emily Swiney was a lady of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy, also a member of the British Raj in India, and married to a British Major-General, living in Cheltenham, a spa town renowned for its conservative views even in the 19th century. She was an early feminist.She was born in Pune,... Alice Wheeldon Alice Wheeldon was a member of the Independent Labour Party and an anti war campaigner.Born in Derby, Wheeldon joined the Women's Social and Political Union and, with her family, including her daughters Hettie and Winnie Mason, she became involved in opposition to World War I.In January 1917... Olive Wharry Olive Wharry was an English artist, arsonist and suffragist who in 1913 was imprisoned with Lilian Lenton for burning down the tea pavilion at Kew Gardens.-Early life:... |
External links
- Records of the Women's Social and Political Union.
- Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.