SELF ACTUALISATION in the FIRST WORLD WAR EXPERIENCES of LOUISA GARRETT ANDERSON and FLORA MURRAY by AMANDA LOUISE MARKWELL
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“BY DINT OF MILD MILITANCY AND UNENDING PUSH” SELF ACTUALISATION IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR EXPERIENCES OF LOUISA GARRETT ANDERSON AND FLORA MURRAY by AMANDA LOUISE MARKWELL A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY BY RESEARCH School of History and Cultures College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham June 2019 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties.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 Dr. Louisa Garrett Anderson and her partner Dr. Flora Murray spent the weeks following the declaration of the First World War calling on their feminist networks for help in forming their own hospital organisation. Tuesday 15th September 1914 found the uniformed women of the newly named Women’s Hospital Corps (WHC) at Victoria Station. Here amongst a crowd of friends and well-wishers they awaited embarkation to France. They believed that women had a part to play in defence of their country and that their profession and their experience of the women’s suffrage movement had given them the training needed to do so. This thesis argues that for some women the First World War was a time of self - actualisation. It seeks to challenge the standard approaches to women and the war, suggesting that women proactively shaped their own war and positioned themselves as integral parts of the larger whole rather than passively waiting for the impact of war to reach them. By complicating some of the myths of women and the war it will show that experiences of women led communities and ideas of selfhood had a fundamental impact on the way some women understood and responded to the war. Dedication For Lindsey, For Everything. Acknowledgements As with everything I do, the writing of this thesis was only achievable due to the love, support and belief from my wife, Lindsey. It’s a lot to ask of a person to share their life with two other women for such a long period of time. She has done so with humour, and grace, listening to my ideas and worries, and always reassuring me when I was certain the end would never be in sight. Now that it is, I cannot thank her enough for always being by my side. I would also like to thank Dr. Mo Moulton for coming with me on this unexpected (for them) project! Their advice has been greatly appreciated and invaluable at times. Thank you to the Women’s Library @LSE and Suffolk Record Office for the accessibility of your archives. Although online documents and archives have made access to some history easier, and this thesis is no exception, there is nothing like holding something your subjects made, or touched to make you feel like you are walking alongside them. Table of Contents List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Page Introduction 1 Louisa Garrett Anderson and Flora Murray 2 Visions of war 5 Theoretical approach 7 Historiographical survey 12 Chapter structure 15 Chapter 1: “Somehow or other we always get around to that subject again, and again” The importance of the Women’s Suffrage movement to the war experiences of Louisa Garrett Anderson and Flora Murray 20 Campaigning for citizenship 25 Historical legitimacy 31 Fighting for rights 37 Suffrage and War 39 Comrades in arms 46 Votes for (some) women 50 Conclusion 51 Chapter 2: “My Loving Comrade” Love’s cultural codes in the experiences and lives of Louisa Garrett Anderson and Flora Murray. 52 Growing up in love 61 Community and belonging 67 Cultural rhetoric 72 All’s fair in love and war 75 Humourless women? 78 Family portraits 81 Conclusion 83 Chapter 3: “Travelling as Soldiers” The Women’s Hospital Corps and masculine spaces. 85 Answering the call 90 Uniformed 94 Uniforms in public discourse 97 School and patriotism 100 Letters from the front 101 “Proper” Soldiers 105 Army Surgeons 110 Honoured by the King 113 Conclusion 115 Chapter 4: “by sheer force of skin and achievement” Louisa Garrett Anderson and Flora Murray’s feminist opportunities during the First World War 117 Professional women 122 War Office recognition 126 Military Suffragists 130 Feminist patriotism 132 Charming articles 133 Portraying a legacy 137 Graded as Lieutenants, Captains, Majors and Lieut-Colonel 138 Campaigning for Rank 140 Legitimacy as legacy 144 One last effort 146 Conclusion 147 Conclusion 149 Bibliography Primary Sources 155 Secondary Sources Journal Articles 163 Books and Chapters 169 List of Illustrations Figure 1: Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson. Abbreviations LSMW London School of Medicine for Women (also known as the New Hospital) MRC Medical Research Council NUWSS National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies RAMC Royal Army Medical Corps SWH Scottish Women’s Hospital’s US United Suffragists VAD Voluntary Aid Detachment WFL Women’s Freedom League WHC Women’s Hospital Corps WSPU Women’s Social and Political Union WTRL Women’s Tax Resistance League Figure 1: Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson. Courtesy of the Wellcome Collection. Introduction I am afraid I have not written often enough since I left you on Monday, but the amount of organisation required by our small hospital unit is extraordinary and Dr Murray and I have done it practically by ourselves. We have been working at it continuously for 10 days since the French Red Cross accepted our offer of help and it is lucky we did otherwise it would have been impossible to start on Tuesday.1 I was not able to see anything of you my very dear one in the crowd this morning. We are a very gay young party except for Dr M and me and we feel we have a great chance which is a reason for joy. You all gave us a fine send-off…This is just what you would have done at my age. I hope I shall be able to do it half as well as you would have done.2 When Dr. Louisa Garrett Anderson wrote these words to her mother in September 1914, she and her partner, Dr. Flora Murray, had spent the weeks since the declaration of war calling on their feminist networks for help in forming their own hospital organisation. Tuesday 15th September 1914 found the uniformed women of the newly named Women’s Hospital Corps (WHC) at Victoria Station. Here amongst a crowd of friends and well-wishers they awaited embarkation to France to work under the auspices of the French Red Cross. For both Anderson and Murray, it was inconceivable that women doctors would not be needed in this time of crisis. However, as militant suffragists their experience of dealing with the British authorities meant that they had offered their services directly to the French. They believed that women had a part to play in defence of their country and that their profession and their experience of the women’s suffrage movement had given them the training needed to do so. 1 WL 7LGA/2/1/02.Louisa Garrett Anderson to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, c. Sept 1914. 2 WL 7LGA/2/1/04. Louisa Garrett Anderson to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, 15th September 1914. 1 | P a g e This thesis seeks to demonstrate that for some women the First World War was a time of self-actualisation and continuity rather than one of disruption and change. It will consider how Anderson and Murray understood and responded to the war. In doing so it aims to suggest that by widening our view and taking women’s life experiences into account we can find reasons for women’s participation in war. Rather than viewing this period as an isolated historical moment, the continuities we find here widen our understanding of this period. They move us further from the idea of war as change in women’s lives, contributing to the expanding scholarship of women during the First World War. Louisa Garrett Anderson and Flora Murray Anderson was born into a women’s movement dynasty.3 This small woman, “quick and energetic in her movements” grew up in an atmosphere of hard-won fights with causes still to be won, a world where trading political news with her family whilst on holiday was the norm.4 Writing from Switzerland at the end of the nineteenth century, Anderson spoke of her discussions with companion Katherine on Joseph Chamberlain and Irish Home Rule, stating that “…I really think Mr. Chamberlains speech almost converted me.”5 Anderson also grew up in and was nurtured by women led communities. Whether it was her time at St Leonard’s school in Scotland, her medical training at the London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW), the women’s suffrage movement, or the WHC, these atmospheres shaped Anderson 3 Anderson was the daughter of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, England’s first female doctor and the niece of Millicent Garrett Fawcett, leader of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. Much of the Garrett family were progressive and moved into public life. According to Jenifer Glynn the Garrett sisters and cousins naturally and amicably evolved into their chosen spheres of work for the women’s movement. See J. Glynn, The Pioneering Garretts: Breaking the Barriers for Women, (London, 2008), p.114.