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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 46106 75-3201 SMITH, Kevin Charles, 1946- THE MILITANT SUFFRAGETTES AS A POLICE PROBLEM: LONDON, 1906-1914. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1974 History, modern Xerox University MicrofilmsAnn , Arbor, Michigan 48106 © 1974 KEVIN CHARLES SMITH ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. THE MILITANT SUFFRAGETTES AS A POLICE PROBLEM: LONDON, 1906-191^ DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University by Kevin Charles Smith, B.A., M.A. * The Ohio State University 197^ Approved by Reading Committee: Professor Philip Poirier Professor Clayton Roberts Advisor Professor Myron Hedlin Department of History ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge the aid of the following: Professor Philip P. Poirier for his guidance and direction; Professor R. Clayton Roberts for h is help in Columbus and London; Hon. Godfrey Samuel and the House of Lords Record Office for permission to quote from the Viscount Samuel Papers; Mrs. E. Browning of the Record Office, Metropolitan Police for guiding me through the police records; Miss Gertrude Abelson for her assistance while I was in London; Mrs. Martin McLane for typing the manuscript; And to my wife, Barbara Ann, for enduring it all. VITA December 2 1 , l9*+6 ............ Born, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1958 ......................................... B.A., LaSalle College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1969 ......................................... M.A., Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 1970-197^ .............................. Teaching Associate, Department of H istory, The Ohio S tate Univer s ity , Columbus, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Studies in British History. Professor Philip P. Poirier. Studies in Tudor-Stuart History. Professor R. Clayton Roberts. Studies in Early Modern Europe. Professor John C. Rule. S tudies in Modern Europe. Professor Carol Rogel. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................................................... i i VITA............. ................... i i i A NOTE ON THE REFERENCES............................................................................................... iv INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... v CHAPTER I . The P rotagonists......................................................................................... 1 II. Taking Each Other' s Measure, '\90b-'\909........................................... 20 III. Escalation of Violence, 1909-'19'12................................................... 83 TV. Years of Outrages, 1913-19'14............................................................... 154 V. Epilogue and Conclusions........................................................................ 232 APPENDIX A............................................................ 243 B................................................................................................................................... 244 C....................................................................................... 248 D................................................................................................................................... 249 E................................................................................................................................... 230 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................... 254 A NOTE ON THE REFERENCES Many of the papers cited in this study are drawn from tv/o vast collections of papers at the Public Record Office. The first is the 45th series of the Home Office Registered Papers, abbreviated as HO 45, followed by a p a rtic u la r document number. The second major collection is the Metropolitan Police Papers, abbreviated as MEPO. These papers are divided into eight series: the first four are all from the Office of the Commissioner: MEPO 1 Letter books. MEPO 2 Correspondence and Papers MEPO 3 Correspondence and Papers,Special s e rie s . MEPO 4 Miss. Books and Papers. Two series are from the Office of the Receiver: MEPO 5 Correspondence and Papers. MEPO 6 Police Orders. The last series is MEPO 8 , Confidential Books and Instructions. Some of these papers are still closed, particularly those originating from the Special Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department, but often these reports are found in the Home Office papers. Wherever possible, document references are id e n tica l to the form required to page them in the Public Record Office. ' INTRODUCTION The story of the militant suffragettes is at least a twice-told tale, hardly worth retelling. Incidents such as the destruction of mail, massive demonstrations, a woman's death under the King's horse, are well known. Likewise, Scotland Yard is famous, whether for the relatively dense inspector guided to the proper conclusions by Sher lock Holmes or for the equally erroneous view of the super sleuths invariably apprehending th e felon . But few efforts have been made to study the police and militants together, to probe the police response to the problems created by these women. This study examines that re lationship. There are a number of points that should be kept in mind by a reader of this study. The f ir s t i s the important fact that this major movement never had an undivided claim on the nation's attention. In any given year, this was only one o f a host of critical issues demand ing public attention. The controversy over the House of Lords, the death of the King, the Budget of 1909i two general elections, a naval arms race, Irish Home Rule, growing industrial unrest: these, too, demanded a tte n tio n . Thus while the women might loudly complain that their needs were being ignored, more often th e ir concerns were crowded out of ministers' minds by seemingly more important issues. Another key fact i6 that the women's suffrage movement in London was closely connected with the sessions of Parliament. The militants were most active in the weeks on e ith e r side of the opening of P a rlia ment, and their activities dwindled towards mid-session, and almost stopped when Parliament was in recess. During this quiet period, the women were usually engaged in behind-the-scenes preparations for the next session. A third point is that the militants were not one unified group under the orders of one set of leaders. Indeed, quite the contrary, many of the outrages, such as the first hunger strike and the first bomb explosion were undertaken by individuals without any previous con sultation with the leaders. While such moves were often subsequently endorsed and became policy, they were not arranged in advance by the leadership. Then too "Militant" as used in this paper does not neces sarily imply that the individual was a member of any particular group. More often than n ot, they were members of the Women's Social and P o li ti c a l Union, the W.S.P.U.. But th e membership of th is group was in constant flux: members came and went as circumstances changed: s p lin te r groups would emerge, submerge, and wither away, with membership r o ll s in turmoil. In this paper, "Militant" means any person who agitated fo r women's suffrage in an unlawful manner. Lastly but by no means least important is the seriousness of this problem from a police point of view. While some of the incidents may seem ludicrous now, only by understanding

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