BRITISH QUAKER WOMEN AND PEACE, 1880s TO 1920s by MIJIN CHO A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham July 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis explores the lives of four British Quaker women—Isabella Ford, Isabel Fry, Margery Fry, and Ruth Fry—focusing on the way they engaged in peace issues in the early twentieth century. In order to examine the complexity and diversity of their experiences, this thesis investigates the characteristics of their Quakerism, pacifism and wider political and personal life, as well as the connections between them. In contrast to O’Donnell’s view that most radical Victorian Quaker women left Quakerism to follow their political pursuits with like-minded friends outside of Quakerism, Isabella Ford, one of the most radical socialists, and feminists among Quakers remained as a Quaker. British Quakers were divided on peace issues but those who disagreed with the general Quaker approach resigned and were not disowned; the case of Isabel Fry is a good example of this. This thesis argues that the experiences of four Quaker women highlight the permissive approach Quakerism afforded its participants in the early twentieth century, challenging previous interpretations of Quakerism as a mono-culture. Highlighting the swift change within Quakerism from being the closed group of the nineteenth to a more open group in the twentieth century, this thesis describes the varied and varying levels of commitment these women had to the group as ‘elastic Quakerism’. Acknowledgements First of all, this thesis was not possible without my supervisor, Professor Ben Pink Dandelion for his academic and pastoral support. It was my privilege to have had support from Friends in Woodbooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham all throughout my research and writing up. I am deeply indebted to academics who inspired and encouraged my research, Professor June Hannam, Professor Thomas Kennedy, Dr. Brian Phillips, Dr. Sandra Holton, Dr. Edwina Newman, Pam Lunn, and the late Professor Grace Janzen. I need to express gratitude to Librarians and archivists in the Friends House Library, London School of Economics and Political Science, Institution of Education, Women’s Library in London, Leeds University, and the University of Birmingham Special Collections. I also need to give special thanks to Petronella Clark for showing me various historic sites, in the Street area, and also thanks to Clerks and Friends in local Meetings who answered my enquires. Finally, I wish to acknowledge all my family, the late Professor Kim Chankook, Sung Yunsoon, especially my mother, Park Wolsoon, who has always supported me so strongly, and my sister Professor Cho Injin and her family for their enduring love. This thesis is dedicated to two great men in my life, Professor Kim Eunkyu, and Kim In-chan, my son, the light of my life. CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Aim of Research 1 1.2. Methodology 6 1.3. Previous Scholarship 20 1.4. Historical Context 27 1.5. Outline of the thesis 50 1.6. Chapter Summary 51 Chapter 2. QUAKERISM AND PEACE 54 2.1. Introduction 54 2.2. Quakerism and Peace 54 2.3. British Quakers and the First World War 78 2.4. Chapter Summary 87 Chapter 3. ISABELLA FORD (1855–1924) 89 3.1. Introduction 89 3.2. Family Background 90 3.3. Isabella Ford and Her Sisters 93 3.4. Isabella Ford and Political Activism 96 3.5. Isabella Ford and the Fellowship of the New Life 112 3.6. Isabella Ford and Socialist Feminism 141 3.7. Isabella Ford and Peace 149 3.8. Isabella Ford and Her Novels 153 3.9. Chapter Summary 176 Chapter 4. THE FRY SISTERS 181 4.1. Introduction 181 4.2. Family Background 181 4.3.The Fry sisters’ Political Life 188 Isabel Fry (1869–1958) 188 Margery Fry (1874–1958) 194 Ruth Fry (1878–1962) 199 4.4. The Fry sisters and Peace Issues 202 4.5. Personal Lives as Women 217 4.6. Chapter Summary 230 Chapter 5. THE POLITICAL AND THE PERSONAL IN CONTEXT 232 5.1. Introduction 232 5.2. Personal Lives and Friendship 232 5.3. Pacifism and the First World War 242 5.4. Activism and Quakerism 246 5.5. Chapter Summary 257 Chapter 6. CONCLUSIONS 261 6.1. Thesis Summary and Originality 261 6.2. Original Contributions and Implications 285 6.3. Future Research 295 6.4. Chapter Summary 297 BIBLIOGRAPHY 298 ABBREVIATIONS CO Conscientious Objector FAU Friends’ Ambulance Unit FOR Fellowship of Reconciliation FPC Friends’ Peace Committee FSC Friends’ Service Committee FWVRC Friends’ War Victims’ Relief Committee IAPA International Arbitration and Peace Association ICW International Council of Women ILP Independent Labour Party IPB International Peace Bureau NCF Non-Conscription Fellowship NCW National Council of Women NUWSS National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society SDF Socialist Democratic Federation SQS Socialist Quaker Society WCG Women’s Co-Operative Guild WFL Women’s Freedom League WILPF Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom WIPA Women’s International Peace Association WLF Women’s Liberal Federation WPAA Women’s Peace and Arbitration Association WPC Women’s Peace Crusade WSPU Women’s Social and Political Union Abbreviations for references are in the Bibliography. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. Aim of Research This thesis explores the lives of four Quaker women—Isabella Ford (1855-1924), Isabel Fry (1869-1958), Margery Fry (1874-1958), and Ruth Fry (1878-1962)—who engaged in peace issues in Britain in the early twentieth century. It examines the depth and variety of their ideas and practice. In order to achieve this, this thesis investigates the characteristics of their Quakerism, pacifism and wider political life, as well as the connections between them. The four women discussed in this thesis combined their radical concerns and religious minds, put them together into practice and remained as Quakers until their deaths even though not officially. Elizabeth O’Donnell has argued that most radical Victorian Quaker women in the north-east of England left Quakerism to follow their political pursuits with like- minded friends outside of Quakerism—Quakers seemingly being considered not radical enough. (O’Donnell 1999, 308) In contrast to O’Donnell’s view, Isabella Ford, one of the most radical feminists, and socialists among Quakers in her time apparently remained as a Quaker, judging by what the obituary says in The Friend. (1924, 670) 1. Introduction 2 Why, then, did she remain as an insider? Is it that she found radical friends with whom to work, or is it that she was not, in fact, so radical herself? Had Quakerism changed in the early twentieth century? This thesis argues that the experiences of four Quaker women highlight the permissive approach Quakerism afforded its participants in the early twentieth century, challenging previous interpretations of Quakerism as a mono-culture. (Dandelion 2007) A methodological approach of feminist biography highlights the varied emotional relations these women engaged in, also highlighting the swift change within Quakerism from being the closed group of the nineteenth to a more open group in the twentieth century. I describe the varied and varying levels of commitment these women had to the group as ‘elastic Quakerism’. These four Quaker women were all very different in political energies in direction and content. Early twentieth century Quakerism allowed this difference. As Pam Lunn has argued in the case of women’s suffrage, Quakerism was permissive: those who disagreed resigned and were not disowned as in the nineteenth century. (Lunn 1997) This thesis highlights and amplifies the theory that Quakerism was permissive, at a popular and organisational level. Lunn also argues that British Quakers were ‘divided on all the great social reforms of the nineteenth century’, though they are ‘widely perceived as having being organisationally in the forefront of change.’ (Lunn 1997, 52) This thesis reinforces Lunn how Quaker women differed through tracing these four women’s experiences, especially over peace issues, thus challenging the generalized view of Quakerism as a unified body, as Kennedy for example tends to imply (2001). 1. Introduction 3 Thomas Kennedy has argued that Quaker pacifism in the First World War was key to the revival of the movement. (Kennedy 1989) However, Quaker pacifism was not prevalent among Friends. As Lunn argues: ‘although individual Quakers, men as well as women, contributed to the suffrage campaign – in both its constitutional and militant forms’, (1997, 52) the average Quaker was conservative on suffrage issues in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She claims that ‘Quakers were in fact divided on all the great social reforms of the nineteenth century’: Quakers remained ‘religious’ rather than political. (Lunn 1997) Accordingly, we can therefore ask: Were these women discussed here divided as well? Were they pacifist rather than patriot or religious rather than political? If they divided, how did they differ and why did they not move strongly in unison on peace issue? This thesis argues that the Quaker women discussed found their own voice within and outwith Quakerism even though they did not represent the most radical liberal politics or liberal tendencies of Quakerism of their time.