Women's Tax Resistance League
Encyclopedia
The Women’s Tax Resistance League (1909–1918) was a direct action
group associated with the Women's Freedom League
that used tax resistance
to protest the disenfranchisement of women during the British women’s suffrage
movement.
Dora Montefiore
proposed the formation of the league in 1897, and it was formally established on 22 October 1909. The league’s activities peaked in the years before World War I
but were largely deflated in 1914 by the onset of that war, when the league membership passed a resolution to temporarily suspend their tax resistance.
Members saw themselves in a tradition of British tax resistance that included John Hampden
. According to one source: “Tax resistance proved to be the longest-lived form of militancy, and the most difficult to prosecute. More than 220 women, mostly middle-class, participated in tax resistance between 1906 and 1918, some continuing to resist through the First World War, despite a general suspension of militancy.”
said in 1913:
, Dora Montefiore
, Flora Annie Steel
, Edith Zangwill, Cicely Hamilton, Anne Cobden Sanderson, Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford
, Elizabeth Wilkes, Winifred Patch, Kate Harvey, Sophia Duleep Singh
, Charlotte Despard
, Clemence Housman, Kate Haslam, Amy Hicks, Mrs. Darent Harrison, Mrs. How Martyn, Mary Sargant Florence
, Mrs. Louis Fagan, Margaret Kineton Parkes, Mrs. Bormann Wells, Garrett Anderson, and Stanton Coit
(a member of “the men’s branch”).
came to adopt some of the same techniques. Anna Howard Shaw
said “I hold it is unfair to the women of this country to have taxation without representation, and I have urged [members of the National Woman Suffrage Association] to adopt a course of passive resistance like the Quakers instead of aggressive resistance. I say to the Government, ‘you may pick my pocket because you are stronger than I, but I’m not going to turn my pockets wrongside out for you.’ … I believe that the spirit of ‘no taxation without representation
’ that resulted in the Revolutionary War
is inherent and just as actual in the women of the country as it was then in the men of the country.”
, ref 2WTR
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
group associated with 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...
that used tax resistance
Tax resistance
Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax or to government policy.Tax resistance is a form of civil disobedience and direct action...
to protest the disenfranchisement of women during the British women’s suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
movement.
Dora Montefiore
Dora Montefiore
Dorothy Frances Montefiore was an English-Australian women's suffragist and socialist. She also wrote poetry, and her autobiography.-Early life:...
proposed the formation of the league in 1897, and it was formally established on 22 October 1909. The league’s activities peaked in the years before 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...
but were largely deflated in 1914 by the onset of that war, when the league membership passed a resolution to temporarily suspend their tax resistance.
Members saw themselves in a tradition of British tax resistance that included John Hampden
John Hampden
John Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...
. According to one source: “Tax resistance proved to be the longest-lived form of militancy, and the most difficult to prosecute. More than 220 women, mostly middle-class, participated in tax resistance between 1906 and 1918, some continuing to resist through the First World War, despite a general suspension of militancy.”
Program
League member and author Beatrice HarradenBeatrice 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...
said in 1913:
The least any woman can do is to refuse to pay taxes, especially the tax on actually earned income. This is certainly the most logical phase of the fight for suffrage. It is a culmination of the Government’s injustice and stupidity to ask that we pay an income tax on income earned by brains, when they are refusing to consider us eligible to vote.
The league was formed three years ago with the slogan: “No vote, no tax.” It is non-partisan—an association of constitutional and militant suffragists, recruited from various suffrage societies for the purpose of resisting taxes.
Action
In several cases, the government seized and sold at auction items owned by the resisters. The League used these occasions as opportunities for demonstrations and publicity, for instance the “Siege of Montefiore” in 1906:The house, surrounded by a wall, could be reached only through an arched doorway, which Montefiore and her maid barred against the bailiffs. For six weeks, Montefiore resisted payment of her taxes, addressing the frequent crowds through the upper windows of the house.
Membership
Among the members were Lilian Hicks, Beatrice HarradenBeatrice 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...
, Dora Montefiore
Dora Montefiore
Dorothy Frances Montefiore was an English-Australian women's suffragist and socialist. She also wrote poetry, and her autobiography.-Early life:...
, Flora Annie Steel
Flora Annie Steel
Flora Annie Steel was an English writer. She was the daughter of George Webster. In 1867 she married a member of the Indian civil service, and for the next twenty-two years lived in India, chiefly in the Punjab, with which most of her books are connected.When her husband's health was weak, Flora...
, Edith Zangwill, Cicely Hamilton, Anne Cobden Sanderson, Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford
Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford
Dame Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, DBE, RRC, FLS was an English aviatrix and ornithologist.-Early and personal life:...
, Elizabeth Wilkes, Winifred Patch, Kate Harvey, Sophia Duleep Singh
Sophia Duleep Singh
Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh was a prominent suffragette in the United Kingdom...
, Charlotte Despard
Charlotte Despard
Charlotte Despard was a British-born, later Irish-based suffragist, novelist and Sinn Féin activist....
, Clemence Housman, Kate Haslam, Amy Hicks, Mrs. Darent Harrison, Mrs. How Martyn, Mary Sargant Florence
Mary Sargant Florence
Mary Sargant Florence was a British painter of figure subjects, mural decorations in fresco and occasional landscapes in watercolour and pastel. She was born in London, née Sargant, sister of the sculptor F.W. Sargant. She studied in Paris under Luc-Olivier Merson and at the Slade School under...
, Mrs. Louis Fagan, Margaret Kineton Parkes, Mrs. Bormann Wells, Garrett Anderson, and Stanton Coit
Stanton Coit
Stanton George Coit was an American-born leader of the Ethical movement in England. He became a British citizen in 1903....
(a member of “the men’s branch”).
Women's Tax Resistance in the United States
The women’s suffrage movement in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
came to adopt some of the same techniques. Anna Howard Shaw
Anna Howard Shaw
Anna Howard Shaw was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and the first ordained female Methodist minister in the United States. Her birthday is celebrated as Anna Howard Shaw Day, as an alternative to St. Valentine's Day.-Early Life:Shaw was...
said “I hold it is unfair to the women of this country to have taxation without representation, and I have urged [members of the National Woman Suffrage Association] to adopt a course of passive resistance like the Quakers instead of aggressive resistance. I say to the Government, ‘you may pick my pocket because you are stronger than I, but I’m not going to turn my pockets wrongside out for you.’ … I believe that the spirit of ‘no taxation without representation
No taxation without representation
"No taxation without representation" is a slogan originating during the 1750s and 1760s that summarized a primary grievance of the British colonists in the Thirteen Colonies, which was one of the major causes of the American Revolution...
’ that resulted in the Revolutionary War
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
is inherent and just as actual in the women of the country as it was then in the men of the country.”
Archives
The archives of the Women's Tax Resistance League are held at The Women's Library at London Metropolitan UniversityLondon Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University , located in London, England, was formed on 1 August 2002 by the amalgamation of the University of North London and the London Guildhall University . The University has campuses in the City of London and in the London Borough of Islington.The University operates its...
, ref 2WTR
External links
- The Tax Resistance League Part 1: Siege at St Leonards 1912
- The Tax Resistance League Part 2: Women’s procession attacked by men, 1912
- “Women’s suffrage movement: The story of Kate Harvey” The Independent 24 November 2005
- “Lives and Times” The Scotsman 4 February 2006 (Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh)