brown.cvr 25/9/03 2:27 pm Page 1 ‘THE TRUEST FORM GENDERinHISTORY OF PATRIOTISM’ ‘THE TRUEST FORM ‘THE OF PATRIOTISM’ pacifist feminism in britain, he truest form of patriotism’ pacifist feminism This is a clearly ‘Texplores the pervasive influence of written and well- pacifism on Victorian feminism. Drawing in britain, organised study of a on previously unused source material, it 1870–1902 neglected topic. provides an account of Victorian women The author makes who campaigned for peace and the many a strong case for feminists who incorporated pacifist ideas pacifist feminism into their writing on women and women’s and shows how and work. It explores feminists’ ideas about the why the movement role of women within the empire, their developed in the way eligibility for citizenship and their ability to it did. The book will act as moral guardians in public life. introduce to readers Brown shows that such ideas made use – in many extraordinary varying ways – of gendered understandings women while giving of the role of force and the relevance of new insights into arbitration and other pacifist strategies. more familiar The book examines the work of a wide figures. range of individuals and organisations, —Karen Hunt, from well-known feminists such as Manchester Lydia Becker, Josephine Butler and Metropolitan Millicent Garrett Fawcett, to lesser-known University figures such as the Quaker pacifists Ellen Robinson and Priscilla Peckover. Women’s work within male-dominated 1870–1902 organisations, such as the Peace Society and the International Arbitration and Peace Association, is covered alongside single- sex organisations, such as the International Council of Women. Also reviewed are the arguments put forward in feminist journals like the Englishwoman’s Review and the Women’s Penny Paper. Brown uncovers a wide range of pacifist, internationalist and anti-imperialist strands in Victorian feminist thought, focusing on how these ideas developed within the political and organisational context of the time. This book will be of interest to anyone studying nineteenth- century social movements, and essential reading for those with an interest in the history of British feminism. Brown Heloise Brown completed her PhD in York and now works as a researcher in Belfast front cover—Lady with a Dove: Madame Loeser by John Brett (1864, Oil on canvas). Photograph by John Webb © Tate, London 2003 Heloise Brown GENDER in HISTORY Series editors: Pam Sharpe, Patricia Skinner and Penny Summerfield The expansion of research into the history of women and gender since the 1970s has changed the face of history. Using the insights of feminist theory and of historians of women, gender historians have explored the configura- tion in the past of gender identities and relations between the sexes. They have also investigated the history of sexuality and family relations, and analysed ideas and ideals of masculinity and femininity. Yet gender history has not abandoned the original, inspirational project of women’s history: to recover and reveal the lived experience of women in the past and the present. The series Gender in History provides a forum for these developments. Its historical coverage extends from the medieval to the modern periods, and its geographical scope encompasses not only Europe and North America but all corners of the globe. The series aims to investigate the social and cultural constructions of gender in historical sources, as well as the gendering of historical discourse itself. It embraces both detailed case studies of spe- cific regions or periods, and broader treatments of major themes. Gender in History titles are designed to meet the needs of both scholars and students working in this dynamic area of historical research. ‘The truest form of patriotism’ also available in the series Masculinity in politics and war: gendering modern history Stefan Dudink, Karen Hagemann and John Tosh (eds) Noblewomen, aristocracy and power in the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman realm Susan Johns ‘THE TRUEST FORM OF PATRIOTISM’ pacifist feminism in britain, 1870–1902 Heloise Brown Manchester University Press Manchester and New York distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave Copyright © Heloise Brown 2003 The right of Heloise Brown to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Manchester University Press Oxford Road, Manchester m13 9nr, UK and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, ny 10010, USA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, ny 10010, USA Distributed exclusively in Canada by UBC Press University of British Columbia, 2029 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada v6t 1z2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for isbn 0 7190 6530 5 hardback 0 7190 6531 3 paperback First published 2003 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Typeset in Minion with Scala Sans display by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed in Great Britain by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow Contents acknowledgements page vii list of abbreviations viii introduction Pacifism and feminism in Victorian Britain 1 1 The physical force objection to women’s suffrage 13 2 ‘The women of the whole world form . a unity’: feminist journals and peace questions 26 3 ‘Conspicuous’ philanthropists: nonconformist religion in nineteenth-century pacifism 44 4 ‘The antagonism of sex’: the Peace Society and women 60 5 Priscilla Peckover and the ‘truest form of patriotism’ 79 6 Ellen Robinson: ‘“United action” in Continental politics’ 99 7 ‘Unity is strength’: the International Arbitration and Peace Association 114 8 Awakening women: pacifist feminism in the IAPA 132 9 ‘A new kind of patriotism’? British women in international politics 144 10 Feminist responses to the second Anglo-Boer war, 1899–1902 164 conclusion 179 select bibliography 185 index 195 v Acknowledgements This work owes a great deal to the feminist environment of the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of York. I would particularly like to thank Jane Rendall for her careful supervision of the D. Phil. thesis in which this book has its origins. Mary Maynard, Treva Broughton and Ruth Symes were immensely supportive in the early stages of my research, and Karen Hunt of Manchester Metropolitan University and Joanna de Groot of the University of York examined the completed thesis and gave valuable feedback and encourage- ment, as well as advice on how to go about turning it into a book. I am grateful to the British Academy for the scholarship that enabled me to complete my D. Phil., and to the Royal Historical Society for funding a visit to Geneva to consult the International Peace Bureau archives. My thanks also to the following people, who have advised me and granted permissions: the Rev. Clive Dunnico for access to the Peace Society Archives at Fellowship House; Christina Swaine and the National Trust for access to Peckover House, Wisbech; and in particular, Ursula Maria Ruser and the staff of the League of Nations Archive Room at the United Nations Library in Geneva. I am grateful to the National Council of Women of Great Britain for allowing me to make copies of their first minute book, and for the assistance provided by numerous libraries and archives, including: Manchester Central Library, the Fawcett Library at London Guildhall University, Friends’ House Library in Friends’ House, London, the British Library, London, the archives of the British Library of Political and Economic Science at the London School of Economics, London Metropolitan Archives, Wisbech Public Library and Wisbech Museum, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. Finally, I would like to express my immense gratitude to my friends and family for their love and support over the years. In particular, my thanks and love to Julie Magill, Madi Gilkes, Deborah Wilson, Ann Kaloski and my parents Christine and Alan Brown, for their emotional and intellectual support, as well as undertaking the tedious task of actually reading and commenting on the manuscript. Last but by no means least, much love and thanks to Sam Riches, Catherine Elliott, Penny Vivian, Hilary Doran, Simon Clarke and Vicki Harding, Hanneke Hazeveld, Colin Moran, Amanda Hayler, Kate Moody and Nuala McGale for being such good friends. Belfast, Co. Antrim vii List of abbreviations BWTA British Women’s Temperance Association CCNSWS Central Committee of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage CD Acts Contagious Diseases Acts CNSWS Central National Society for Women’s Suffrage IAPA International Arbitration and Peace Association ICW International Council of Women ILP Independent Labour Party ILPL International League of Peace and Liberty IPB International Peace Bureau LBWPAS Liverpool and Birkenhead Women’s Peace and Arbitration Society LPA Local Peace Association MRU Moral Reform Union MWPA Manchester Women’s Peace Association NCW National Council of Women NCWGBI National Council of Women of Great Britain and Ireland NUWW National Union of Women Workers NWSA National Woman Suffrage Association P&G Peace and Goodwill: A Sequel to the Olive Leaf SACC South Africa Conciliation Committee WIPA Women’s International Peace Association WIPU Women’s International Peace Union WLA Women’s Liberal Association WLF Women’s Liberal Federation WLPA Wisbech Local Peace Association WPA Workmen’s Peace Association WPAA Women’s Peace and Arbitration Association WPAAPS Women’s Peace and Arbitration Auxiliary of the Peace Society WPP Women’s Penny Paper WSJ Women’s Suffrage Journal viii introduction Introduction Pacifism and feminism in Victorian Britain War is an essentially masculine pursuit. Women do not as a rule seek to quench their differences in blood. Fighting is not natural to them. (Lydia Becker)1 It is the truest form of patriotism to do our utmost to save our coun- try from the crime and shame of an unjust war.