UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER “The Women were marvellous”1 To what extent were the contributions of radical women activists significant in the No- Conscription Fellowship’s ability to maintain a stance of opposition to the First World War? Alison Mary Wilcox ORCID Number: 0000-0003-2751-9550 Doctor of Philosophy September 2018 This Thesis has been completed as a requirement for a postgraduate research degree of the University of Winchester. The Word Count is: [98,870] 1 William J Chamberlain Fighting for Peace: The Story of the War Resistance Movement, London 1928, p.1. 1 2 OPEN ACCESS / EMBARGO AGREEMENT FORM Agreement: I understand that the thesis listed on this form will be deposited in the University of Winchester’s Research Repository, and by giving permission to the University of Winchester to make my thesis publically available I agree that the: • University of Winchester’s Research Repository administrators or any third party with whom the University of Winchester’s Research Repository has an agreement to do so may, without changing content, translate the Work to any medium or format for the purpose of future preservation and accessibility. • University of Winchester’s Research Repository reserves the right to remove the Work for any professional, administrative or legal reason. Equally, I may request that the Work is removed at any point in the future. I understand that once the Work is deposited, a citation to the Work will always remain visible, although the author retains the right to update the Work. • rights granted to the University of Winchester’ Research Repository through this agreement are entirely non-exclusive and royalty free; that I am free to publish the Work in its present version or future versions elsewhere; and that no ownership is assumed by the repository when storing the Work. In order to facilitate commercial publication, I request an embargo period of 2 years* 3 DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT STATEMENT No portion of the work referred to in the Thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. I confirm that this Thesis is entirely my own work Copyright Statement Copyright © Alison Mary Wilcox, 2018, ‘“The Women were marvellous”. To what extent were the contributions of radical women activists significant in the No-Conscription Fellowship’s ability to maintain a stance of opposition to the First World War?’, University of Winchester, PhD Thesis, pp 1 -259 ORCID [0000-0003-2751-9550]. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Copies (by any process) either in full, or of extracts, may be made only in accordance with instructions given by the author. Details may be obtained from the RKE Centre, University of Winchester. This page must form part of any such copies made. Further copies (by any process) of copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the permission (in writing) of the author. No profit may be made from selling, copying or licensing the author’s work without further agreement. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Mark Allen, Professor Stephanie Spencer and Dr Sian Edwards, who have accompanied me on my long, challenging and exciting journey to completion. I am grateful for their guidance, patience, support and, of course, their rigorous assessment of my work. I am profoundly grateful to Cyril Pearce, the world authority on conscientious objectors, who has inspired and encouraged me to complete my study about the women who supported those extraordinary and brave men. I would like to thank Professor June Hannam for the invaluable advice, her positive words of encouragement and guidance she gave to me in the process of the upgrade examination. I am grateful for the time Dr Ellie Woodacre was able to offer me when I needed advice and support, while Professor Joyce Goodman’s advice on theoretical issues was valuable and illuminating. Several archives and libraries were visited during research for the thesis, and everyone whom I have met has been helpful and interested in assisting the research for my study. However, the librarians of The Friends Library in London, Lisa, Melissa and Caroline, were particularly solicitous in their assistance in tracking down and accessing folders and online resources. I am most grateful for their help and interest. Friends, Lindsay and John Airey, and Anne and Bill Love, have enabled me to find quiet working spaces by allowing me to house sit while they were away on holiday. The weeks I spent in their lovely homes were both restful and productive. I am equally grateful to Rick Patterson and Jan Beverley who hosted me on several occasions when I needed to spend time at The National Archives. Many other friends and fellow doctoral students have urged me on towards completion and for this I am most grateful: Sue Faithful, Sue Jessup, John Hare, Pat Thompson and Clare Clark read chapters and gave me helpful but kindly advice on my efforts. I am totally indebted to my partner, Nick Webb, who has lived with the women of the NCF and their conscientious objectors for many years. His contribution to the creation of the thesis has been immense; he has read it at least three times, made constructive and helpful comments which have propelled the study forward, tolerated holidays being organised around my research and writing, and ensured that at the end of a long day that there has been a chance to relax with a glass of something cold and sparkling. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Eddie and Marjorie Wilcox who encouraged me from a young age to engage with the past and to challenge convention. Their legacy is that I have become an Historian thanks to their love, belief and support. 2 UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER ABSTRACT ‘“The Women were marvellous”. To what extent were the contributions of radical women activists significant in the No-Conscription Fellowship’s ability to maintain a stance of opposition to the First World War? Alison Mary Wilcox ORCID Number: [0000-0003-2751-9550] Doctor of Philosophy September 2018 This study concerns the war resistance activities of groups of women who worked for the No-Conscription Fellowship (NCF or Fellowship), a pacifist organisation that operated on mainland Britain during the First World War. It examines how women’s contributions to war resistance, enabled this organisation to sustain its position of opposition to the war, and the government’s policy of conscription. The contributions by these women to the persistence of the Fellowship’s war resistance, were not fairly acknowledged by their contemporaries at the time, or by historians since. This study uses collective biography to analyse the significance of their contributions to the maintenance of war resistance and goes on to consider how the history of the NCF might be modified, if their contributions were included in the narrative of that organisation, and thereby, that of war resistance in Britain. In undertaking such a task of recovery, Joan Scott’s work on women and their invisibility in history, has been employed, alongside a gendered perspective, when examining the available sources. Evidence of women’s involvement in war resistance has been recovered from a range of collections which have included, the Catherine Marshall papers, relevant documents at the Friends Library, a repository for sources that relate to pacifism, The National Archives and the NCF’s newspaper, The Tribunal. Marshall’s papers have proved to be a fruitful source of evidence for her own prodigious contribution to the Fellowship’s war resistance, as well as revealing the presence of several previously unknown or obscured women to the work of the NCF. The documents that relate to the work of the Conscientious Objectors Information Board, (COIB), an organisation founded by Marshall and used to assist the political activism of the NCF, which she organised, have proved to be a rich resource for the discovery of women whose contribution to war resistance has been overlooked. The Tribunal has been a fount of evidence throughout the study, as a source which publicised the various war resisting activities of the women involved with the NCF and the anti-war movement (AWM). During analysis of the research findings there has been some reflection on the nature of war resistance taken by women during the First World War and how this might enhance an understanding of women’s involvement in war resistance activities. 3 Table of Contents DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ................................................................................... 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ 4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................................................................... 6 ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 7 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................