DOCSLIB.ORG

WOMEN's SUFFRAGE ACTIVISM in CHELTENHAM Derek Benson

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
WOMEN's SUFFRAGE ACTIVISM in CHELTENHAM Derek Benson Women’s Suffrage Activism in Cheltenham 1 WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE ACTIVISM IN CHELTENHAM Derek Benson “The women’s cause will be triumphant in the end because it is founded on justice” 1 he struggle by women to obtain the By 1848 Chartism had ceased to be the mass- T parliamentary vote began many years before movement that it previously was and had not the well known ‘suffragette’ activities led by achieved its aims for men, leaving little hope for Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters. Prior to women in general and negligible hope for working the passing into law of the Representation of the class women. Subsequent efforts to obtain female People Act 1832 (known as the Great Reform Act) suffrage were predominately made by middle class fairly affluent widows and unmarried women women (with several important exceptions) in could in theory vote as the franchise was based on terms of both the leaders and constituents. What property ownership, but in practice women did not follows is not a comprehensive account of all vote. A married woman was excluded in that she meetings and activists in Cheltenham, but was deemed in law to own nothing; it was all her hopefully covers some key people and events. husband’s. However, all possibility of women In 1869 the Municipal Franchise Act became voting was stopped by the 1832 Act precisely law and enabled single and widowed female specifying that ‘male persons’ who satisfied ratepayers to vote in local municipal council property criteria were enfranchised. elections. This may have helped to spark a As well as excluding women, the 1832 Act resumption of organised agitation for the effectively denied working men the franchise. This parliamentary franchise. From the city of led to the rise of the Chartist movement demanding Gloucester, the first of a number of petitions was votes for all adults regardless of gender. This presented to Parliament on 4 May 1869; a petition stance was changed to votes for all men aged over from Cheltenham followed eight days later.4 twenty-one when the proposal of equal voting In 1871 the Cheltenham branch of the National rights for women was dismissed as unachievable Society for Women’s Suffrage was founded; and a potential hindrance to attaining complete members of a Cheltenham committee of the male suffrage. society in those days included Mary Jane Briggs, Nevertheless, female suffrage groups were Lucy March Phillips, Theodora Mills, Mrs. formed, often to support their men but also to agi- Griffiths, Mrs. Robberds, Miss Platt, Mrs. tate for their own rights. One such organisation Elizabeth Colby and Miss Cordelia Colby.5 was the Tewkesbury Female Radical Association Meetings in support of women’s suffrage took whose secretary was Miss Eliza Hale. In a letter to place in Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury. the Chartist newspaper, the Northern Star, she They often involved Mrs. Harriet McIlquham. She stated their determination “to obtain for them and was a significant and nationally prominent their husbands, brothers and sweethearts – Univer- suffragist associated with Tewkesbury and sal Suffrage”. Chartist women held independent Cheltenham, active in a number of suffrage meetings; Eliza Hale chaired one in Cheltenham in organisations over the years.6 July 1839 of 500 women addressed by Henry Vincent, a significant Chartist organiser.2 They Miss Rhoda Garrett, an important early figure also took part in actions such as a female ‘sit-in’ at in the suffrage movement and a pioneering interior St. Mary’s Church, Cheltenham in August 1839.3 designer, gave a talk on 3 April 1872 at the ____________________________ 1 Frances Swiney in a letter to the Cheltenham Chronicle published 4 Jan 1913. 2 Cheltenham Examiner, 20 Jul 1839. 3 Derek Benson, ‘Chartism in Tewkesbury and District’, THS Bulletin 19, 2010. For extended accounts of local Chartist activities also see, Benson, ‘William Morris Moore (1813-1841), THS Bulletin 20, 2011 and ‘William Penn Gaskell’ (1808-1882), Cheltenham Local History Society Journal 28, 2012. 4-5 Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland A Regional Survey [Survey]. 6 Harriet Medley (1837-1910) London born suffragist and local government politician, married James McIlquham and lived at Staverton House, Boddington. See Jennifer Slack, ‘Harriet McIlquham: A True Pioneer?’, THS Bulletin 15, 2006, for a full account of her local government career in Tewkesbury and district. Women’s Suffrage Activism in Cheltenham 2 1. Harriet be included in the franchise. Suffragists were also McIlquham disheartened by the emergence of organised anti- (1837-1910) suffragist movements. Cheltenham Significant activities in the district had greatly Chronicle & reduced by the late 1880s, although Mrs. Gloucestershire McIlquham was still active as a member of both Graphic [CCGG] the Women’s Franchise League, founded in 1889 29 Jan 1910 by Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst and her husband [all CCGG images Richard, and the radical Women’s Emancipation courtesy of Glos. Archives] Union [WEU], founded by Elizabeth Wolstenholme in 1891. Cheltenham’s Elizabeth and Cordelia Colby were members of the council of the League and Mrs. Frances Swiney of Cheltenham Corn Exchange on The Electoral Cheltenham had her Plea For Disenfranchised Disabilities of Women. The meeting was chaired Women published by the WEU.8 by Henry Samuelson, Cheltenham’s Liberal MP and in attendance were the local Congregational Frances Swiney played a leading role in the minister, Dr. Andrew Brown and the Unitarian resurgence of the women’s suffrage movement in ministers, Revs. John Robbards and David Cheltenham. In 1896 she became president of the Griffith. Also on the platform were Miss Lilias reformed Cheltenham Women’s Suffrage Society Ashworth, a leading early suffragist organiser, and [CWSS] which joined the National Union of Miss Agnes Garrett (cousin of Rhoda). Rhoda Women’s Suffrage Societies [NUWSS] in 1898. Garrett gave a summary of the disadvantages (Rosa) Frances Emily Swiney née Biggs (1847- endured by women and stated: “We only ask that 1922) was born in India but spent her childhood in women who fulfil the same conditions as men – Ireland. She married Major John Swiney and who are householders, who pay taxes, and are settled in Cheltenham in 1877. In addition to her rated to the relief of the poor, shall be admitted to political activities, she was a talented painter, a the franchise. More than this we do not ask – at writer, and was involved in other organisations present.” 7 such as the Primrose League, Malthusian League, the Secular Education League, the Eugenic During the 1880s and into the 1890s there was Education Society, the Food Reform and Heath a relative decline in the women’s suffrage move- Association, and others. She was a theosophist, ment. A number of developments and issues teetotal and a vegetarian, chairing some NUWSS combined to take the momentum out of the general meetings at Mrs. Gard’s Holborn House Hotel in issue of reform and left women isolated. Reforms Winchcombe Street, described as “the only in local government gave the vote to female vegetarian hotel in England”.9 ratepayers and allowed them the right to stand for election to school boards, poor law boards and From 1903 until 1918, (Mary) Theodora Flower later, rural district and urban district councils – Mills (1874-1958) of Leckhampton was secretary rights that Harriet McIlquham took full advantage of the CWSS. She was also active in the British of. Gladstone’s 1884 Reform Act gave the Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. Theodora parliamentary franchise to many more working was a successful writer (often of books for men, but again expressly excluded women. Other children) and a talented songwriter, composing issues competing with the suffrage campaign for several songs used nationally and internationally the attention of women included the Contagious by the women’s suffrage organisations.10 Diseases Acts, married women’s property rights The turn of the century saw a radical change of and women’s higher education. Splits in existing tactics in the movement. In 1903 Emmeline Pank- organisations occurred over such issues as Irish hurst founded the Women’s Social and Political home rule, moves to affiliate with political parties Union [WSPU]. This was a non-party, all-women and conflict over whether married women should ____________________________ 7 Crawford, Survey; Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928 [Guide]. 8 Crawford, Survey. 9 David Doughan, ‘Swiney , (Rosa) Frances Emily(1847–1922)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/41247, accessed 13 April 2014]; Who’s Who in Cheltenham, 1911; Cheltenham Looker-On, 12 Dec 1908. 10 Gloucestershire Echo, 15 Nov 1939, letter from Miss Mills; Crawford, Guide. Women’s Suffrage Activism in Cheltenham 3 impatient lot?’ Since she was first interested in the question by a lecture given by George Jacob Holyoake, she had gone quietly on in the movement led by John Stuart Mill and others, but now she was heart and soul with the ‘insurgents’. It is unclear whether Harriet McIlquham was ever an official member of the WSPU although she certainly donated money and carried out work for them. Frances Swiney similarly contributed to the WSPU and defended militant action. There appears to have been a good deal of support and collaboration between the various suffrage groups 2. Suffragist garden party and meeting at Mrs. Swiney’s in Cheltenham. Sandford Lawn home, 16 July 1910. Theodora Mills (1874 -1958), Frances Swiney (1847-1922), Rev. John Smith, A mildly militant activity in Cheltenham was local Unitarian minister. CCGG 23 Jul 1910 punished in 1908. Mrs. Emma Sporson was summonsed for chalking the pavement with ‘Votes militant organisation, whose slogan was ‘deeds, for Women’ slogans and announcements of not words’.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Votes for Women (Birmingham Stories)
    Votes for Women: Tracing the Struggle in Birmingham Contents Introduction: Votes For Women in Birmingham The Rise of Women’s Suffrage Societies Birmingham and the Women’s Social and Political Union Questioning The Evidence of Suffragette History in Birmingham Key Information on Suffragette Movements in Birmingham Sources from Birmingham Archives and Heritage Collections General Sources Written by Dr Andy Green, 2009. www.connectinghistories.org.uk/birminghamstories.asp Early women’s Histories in the archive Reports of the Birmingham Women’s Suffrage Society [LF 76.12] Birmingham Branch of the National Council of Women [MS 841] Women Workers Union Reports [L41.2] ‘Suffragettes at Aston Parliament’, Birmingham Weekly Mercury, 17 October 1908. Elizabeth Cadbury Papers Introduction: Votes for Women in Birmingham [MS 466] The women of Birmingham and the rest of Britain only won the right to vote through a long and difficult campaign for social equality. ‘The Representation The Female Society for of the People Bill’ (1918) allowed women over the age of thirty the chance Birmingham for the Relief to participate in national elections. Only when the ‘Equal Franchise Act’ of British Negro Slaves (1928) was introduced did all women finally have the right to take part in [IIR: 62] the parliamentary voting system as equal citizens. For centuries, a sexist opposition to women’s involvement in public life tried Birmingham Association to keep women firmly out of politics. Biological arguments that women were for the Unmarried inferior to men were underlined by sentimental portrayals of women as the Mother and Her Child rightful ‘guardians of the home’. While women from all classes, backgrounds and political opinions continued to work, challenge and support society, [MS 603] their rights were denied by a ‘patriarchal’ or ‘male centred’ British Empire in which men sought to control and dominate politics.
    [Show full text]
  • A Prostitution of the Profession?: the Ethical Dilemma of Suffragette
    22-4-2020 ‘A Prostitution of the Profession’?: The Ethical Dilemma of Suffragette Force-Feeding, 1909–14 - A History of Force Feeding - NCBI … NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Miller I. A History of Force Feeding: Hunger Strikes, Prisons and Medical Ethics, 1909-1974. Basingstoke (UK): Palgrave Macmillan; 2016 Aug 26. Chapter 2 ‘A Prostitution of the Profession’?: The Ethical Dilemma of Suffragette Force-Feeding, 1909–14 In 2013, the British Medical Association wrote to President Obama and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel inveighing against force-feeding policies at Guantánamo Bay. The Association was deeply concerned with the ethical problems associated with feeding prisoners against their will, seeing this as a severe violation of medical ethics. To support its emotive claims, the Association pointed to the Declarations of Tokyo (1975) and Malta (1991) which had 1 both clearly condemned force-feeding as unethical. Nonetheless, American military authorities had resurrected the practice, the Association suggested, to avoid facing an embarrassing set of prison deaths that risked turning 2 international opinion against Guantánamo and the nature of its management. Like other critics, the Association had some compassion for military doctors who seemed to be caught in an unhappy dilemma: Should they prevent suicides by force-feeding or oversee slow, excruciating deaths from starvation? Yet despite showing empathy, critics from within the medical profession, such as British general
    [Show full text]
  • Suffrage and Suffragettes in the Hartlepools, 1869 to 1919
    Suffrage and Suffragettes in the Hartlepools, 1869 to 1919 The early years The organised fight for the right of women to vote in the United Kingdom goes back to the early years of the 19th Century, when popular movements began to directly criticise the traditional and often corrupt system of selecting the all male Members of Parliament. While partially successful through winning the 1832 Reform Act, which extended voting to 1 in 7 men based solely on their ownership of property, the same Act explicitly banned women from voting. There was slight progress in 1869 when the Municipal Reform Act doubled the number of eligible male voters in local elections, and allowed a very small proportion of richer women to vote as the head of their household. The Hartlepools had supported this act, submitting a local petition requesting suffrage on 14th July 1869, and directly benefitted through gaining the right to elect its own MP for the first time. In 1872 the fight for women's suffrage became a national movement with the formation of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (NSWS), and later, the more influential National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). On the 12th March 1872 the corporation of West Hartlepool submitted a petition in support of a second attempt by Jacob Bright, the MP for Manchester, to get a Women’s Suffrage Bill adopted into law. His bill was supported locally at a meeting at the Temperance Hall on the 8th April where the leading campaigner Lydia Becker, the founder of the Women’s Suffrage Journal, Isabella Stewart and the Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Force Feeding
    A History of Force Feeding Ian Miller A History of Force Feeding Hunger Strikes, Prisons and Medical Ethics, 1909–1974 This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the work’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if such material is not included in the work’s Creative Commons license and the respective action is not permitted by statutory regulation, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to duplicate, adapt or reproduce the material. Ian Miller Ulster University Coleraine , United Kingdom ISBN 978-3-319-31112-8 ISBN 978-3-319-31113-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31113-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016941754 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 Open Access This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
    [Show full text]
  • Women's Suffrage Movement in Britain: the Long Road Toward
    PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research University of Tlemcen Faculty of Letters and Languages Department of English Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain: The Long Road toward Women’s Rights (1850/1928) Dissertation submitted to the Department of English as a partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Literature and Civilisation Presented by: Supervised by: KECHE Houda Dr. SENOUCI Faiza MAMMERI Chahinaz BOARD OF EXAMINERS: Dr/ KHELLADI Mohamed Chairperson Dr/ SENOUCI Faiza Supervisor Mrs/SEBBOUI Khadidja Examiner Academic Year: 2016-2017 Acknowledgements Before all we thank almighty God for blessing us in achieving this work. All the thanks go to our supervisor Dr. SENOUCI Faiza who has guided us with great professionalism and whose guidance and suggestion have helped us a lot in the fulfilment of this research work. I also welcome this opportunity to express my appreciation to the members of jury and to all the teachers of the department of English, from whom we have learnt a lot Million thanks to all who helped us in this work II Dedication I dedicate this modest work: To my lovely mother Chafia. And to the best man on earth in my eyes my father Mokhtar There is no doubt in my mind that without them I would never go further in my life, and I say to them: “Thank you for your affection, prayers and your selfless sacrifices.” To my shining beloved sister Hanane To the best copy of mine Amira To my lovely brothers Walid and Haythem To all my family, especially Zahra, Hadjer, Sara, Meriem To my friend who shared this work with me: Chahinaz To all my best friends Houda III Dedication I dedicate this humble work: To my wonderful deeply missed mother, I will always keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
    [Show full text]
  • Masterarbeit / Master's Thesis
    MASTERARBEIT / MASTER’S THESIS Titel der Masterarbeit / Title of the Master‘s Thesis „Mit Hut, Korsett und Bombe – Die britischen Suffragetten im Spiegel von TV- und Kinoproduktionen des 21. Jahrhunderts“ verfasst von / submitted by Eva Maria Rathensteiner, BA angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (MA) Wien, 2018 / Vienna 2018 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 066 803 degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt / Masterstudium Geschichte degree programme as it appears on the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Johanna Gehmacher Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. Einleitung................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Forschungslage und Quellen .............................................................................................. 2 1.2. Whitewashing in der Geschichtsschreibung ....................................................................... 5 1.3. Anliegen der Arbeit ............................................................................................................ 5 1.4. Film- und Serienanalyse ..................................................................................................... 8 1.5. Aufbau der Arbeit ............................................................................................................. 11 2. Historische Perspektiven auf die Frauenwahlrechtsbewegung
    [Show full text]
  • From Peaceful Militancy to Revolution: an Analysis Of
    FROM PEACEFUL MILITANCY TO REVOLUTION: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RHETORICAL STRUCTURE OF THE WOMEN'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL UNION IN GREAT BRITAIN, 1903 - 1914 THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE By Kitty S. Harris, B. S. Denton, Texas August, 1974 Harris, Kitty S., FromtPeacefl Mi itan to Revolution: i Inajyjs of the Rhtor'icl Structure of the Women's Social and Political Union in Great .Britain, 29Y - f914. Master of Science (Speech Communication and Drama), August, 1974, 164 pp., bibliography, 46 titles. This study focused on the rhetorical structure of the Women's Social and Political Union. An interdisciplinary methodology was used to examine the components of rhetorical structure: ideology, goals, leaders, membership, and stra- tegies. The rhetorical structure became the thread which held the movement together and provided the impetus for its progression and through four stages: formation and develop- ment, the beginning of militancy, the flourishing of membership, and the eruption of violence. The final stage brought about differing ideologies, inconsistent goals, and a divided membership. Although the rhetorical structure was shattered and the movement ended, it succeeded in changing the Victorian image of women and contributed to the larger women's movement. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page * 9 . * 0 0 I INTRODUCTION . Statement of Purpose Methods and Procedures Summary of Design TI. THE SOCIAL CLIMATE WHICH PRECIPITATED THE MOVEENT. 33 Introduction Great Britain: 1880 - 1903 The Victorian Image of Women The Background of the Women's Suffrage Movement Conclusion III.
    [Show full text]
  • Suffrage in Nottingham
    Suffrage in Nottingham February 6th 2018 marked 100 years since the first women got the vote in parliamentary elections and while this was not all women, it was a significant staging post to the full franchise gained in 1928. Women over 30 meeting the property requirement, some 8 million, were able to vote for the first time in the election in December 1918 and women were also able to stand for election to parliament. Nottingham was recognised as one of only seven suffrage cities and was given some financial support from the government to celebrate this. This article explores the high level of activity and the contribution made by women in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. It provides an overview of this campaign and some of the key aspects and individuals who contributed to the attainment of the vote for women starting with the very first petition presented to parliament by John Stuart Mill in 1866, which was signed by 50 women from Nottingham. This was followed by Nottingham petitions in 1869 and 1870 and certainly from that time there were meetings, and both men and women were actively campaigning. In 1871 a Nottingham committee of the London based Society for Women’s Suffrage was founded and served as an umbrella organisation bringing together various temperance, religious and other groups across the city. When the National Society for Women’s Suffrage was established in 1872 as the first national group in Britain to campaign for women’s right to vote, Nottingham was quick to associate with that group. About this time a wealthy woman Lilias Ashworth Hallett was funding suffrage meetings in Nottingham and Grantham and we have evidence in Alice Dowson’s diaries of her attending suffrage events and meetings in the 1870’s.
    [Show full text]
  • The Labour Party in 1900, All the Socialist Groups in Britain Came Together and Formed the Labour Party
    Poverty in the 19th century • The census of 1851 recorded half of the population of Britain as living in towns - the first society in human history to do so. Over the previous 70 years, the population of Britain had risen at an unprecedented rate. • The towns offered a better chance of work and higher wages than the countryside, where many families were trapped in poverty and seasonal employment. On the other hand, the countryside was healthier. • A baby born in a large town with a population of more than 100,000 in the 1820s might expect to live to 35 - in the 1830s, life expectancy was down to a miserable 29. • A comparison between a desperately unhealthy large town and a small market town shows the costs of migrating in search of work and prosperity. – In 1851, a boy born in inner Liverpool had a life expectancy of only 26 years, – Compared with a boy born in the small market town of Oakhampton, who could expect to live to 57. • Large towns were thus desperately unhealthy. New epidemics were stalking the cities - cholera and typhoid were carried by polluted water, typhus was spread by lice, and 'summer diarrhoea' was caused by swarms of flies feeding on horse manure and human waste. • The problem was easy to identify and difficult to solve. Too little was invested in the urban environment, in sewers, street paving and cleansing, and in pure water and decent housing. • Matters started to change from about 1860. The conditions of the towns seemed intolerable and a source of danger - being filthy might lead to death for the rich as well as the poor.
    [Show full text]
  • ISOBEL (IZZY) ROBERTS: Comberton Village College Research Project
    ISOBEL (IZZY) ROBERTS: Comberton Village College Research Project for the Newnham College 2018 Millicent Fawcett Project: ‘Vote 100 Pathways to Humanities & Social Sciences’ September 2018 Abstract For my project I decided to write a letter to a Suffragette from my perspective in 2018. I chose to parallel it with the #MeToo movement which is taking place today, 100 years on, and to explore the similarities and differences with the Suffragette movement. I chose to focus on this topic because it would help me research and evaluate how the Suffragette movement has and still is affecting us today. It also helped me understand how much has changed for women in 2018, but also how much still needs to be changed. I chose to present my work in a letter format because I wanted to address my thoughts directly to a Suffragette. For research I interviewed the great niece of Laura Ainsworth, which was really fascinating and insightful. I also read, watched and looked up information about the Women’s Rights Movement in 1918 and #MeToo. My favourite method of research was the interview as it was more personal to me so I could ask specific questions. What I learnt the most about was how frustrating it must have been for women with no rights, and how it left them with very little choice but to resort to violence. I discovered some real similarities between the #MeToo campaign, and the correlations it has back to 1918. Overall, I concluded that the Women’s Rights Movement in 1918 was an amazing and inspiring starting point for true gender equality.
    [Show full text]