Chapter 1
The Militant Struggle: When Women Fought for the Vote
In 1903, a widow and registrar of births and deaths named Emmeline Pankhurst invited a small group of women to her Manchester home. There, at 62 Nelson Street, they formed what would become one of the most radical political movements in British history-the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Their motto? "Deeds, not words." Little did the establishment know that these women would transform political activism forever, creating what the suffrage historian Diane Atkinson calls "a defiant panorama of first nights, long runs, tragedies, comedies and coups de theatre."
The suffragettes, as they were derisively labeled by the Daily Mail (a term they proudly adopted), would spend the next decade shocking British society with increasingly militant tactics. From heckling politicians to smashing windows, from hunger strikes to arson campaigns, these women risked everything-their reputations, their freedom, and sometimes their lives-in pursuit of the vote. Their story captivated the public imagination then and continues to inspire today, with figures like Meryl Streep portraying Emmeline Pankhurst in the 2015 film "Suffragette" and their purple, white, and green color scheme remaining instantly recognizable over a century later. As we explore their journey, prepare to meet not just the famous Pankhurst family but also the working-class mill girls, teachers, artists, and even septuagenarians who formed the backbone of this revolutionary movement.
Chapter 2
The Birth of Militancy: From Peaceful Petition to Direct Action
The fight for women's suffrage didn't begin with the suffragettes. Since 1832, when the Great Reform Act explicitly defined voters as "male persons," women had been systematically organizing for political representation. Mary Smith, a wealthy Yorkshire woman, became the first to petition Parliament for women's voting rights that same year, arguing that since women paid taxes and were subject to all legal punishments, they deserved representation. Despite brief discussion, her petition was rejected.
For decades, suffrage organizations like the Sheffield Female Political Association (founded 1851), the Langham Place Group (1858-1866), and the Kensington Society worked tirelessly through conventional channels. By 1897, Millicent Fawcett led the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), pursuing change through petitioning and lobbying. Despite presenting private members' bills almost yearly between 1870-1914, successive governments refused to enfranchise women, even as women in Wyoming, Colorado, New Zealand, and parts of Australia gained voting rights.
This glacial pace of progress frustrated many, including Emmeline Pankhurst. Born the day after the fall of the Bastille (though she claimed the same date), she had been exposed to politics from childhood. Her grandfather had survived the Battle of Peterloo, and at five, she collected pennies for emancipated slaves. At fourteen, she heard Lydia Becker speak on women's suffrage. She married radical barrister Richard Pankhurst in 1879, who was twenty-three years her senior and a committed supporter of women's rights.
After Richard's death in 1898, Emmeline moved to more modest accommodations on Nelson Street in Manchester. Her daughter Christabel, encouraged by suffragists Esther Roper and Eva Gore-Booth, enrolled in law at Owen's College, believing legal knowledge would prove useful for suffrage work. When they formed the WSPU in 1903, they limited membership exclusively to women, remained free from party affiliation, and focused solely on action.
The pivotal moment that transformed the movement came in October 1905. When Liberal politicians Sir Edward Grey and Winston Churchill announced a rally at Manchester's Free Trade Hall, Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney-a cotton mill worker who had joined the cause-planned to ask Churchill if he would support women's suffrage. When their question was ignored, they unfurled a hidden "Votes for Women" banner and were forcibly removed. Christabel deliberately provoked arrest with a "technical assault" on a policeman, while Annie was arrested for obstruction. Both refused to pay their fines and were sent to Strangeways Prison.
This calculated act of civil disobedience announced to the wider world that "deeds not words" would be their approach. Annie Kenney later described an epiphany upon her release: "The old life had gone, a new life had come... Christabel's speech was truth to me. She it was who lit the fire which consumed the past." The suffragette movement was born.
Chapter 3
From Manchester to London: The Movement Expands
By 1906, the WSPU had moved its headquarters to London, where they began targeting the Liberal government directly. Annie Kenney, despite her minimal formal education, emerged as a pivotal figure. Working from age ten as a "half-timer" at Henry Atherton's textile mill, she later discovered political thought through Robert Blatchford's socialist writings. After meeting Christabel Pankhurst, she overcame her terror of public speaking to address crowds and recruit women across Lancashire mill towns.
The WSPU quickly developed innovative protest tactics. In December 1905, Annie Kenney and other members targeted a Liberal meeting at the Royal Albert Hall. Despite Liberal attempts to exclude suffragettes by screening ticket sales, Annie gained entry disguised as a lady in a fur coat with Minnie Baldock posing as her maid. When Liberal leader Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman ignored Annie's written question about votes for women, she unfurled a hidden banner.
Minnie Baldock, who had worked in a shirt factory under "sweated" conditions before marrying Henry Baldock in 1888, was perfectly positioned to establish the WSPU's message in Canning Town, one of London's most deprived areas. After meeting Annie Kenney through Dora Montefiore, Minnie hosted Annie at her home, helping transform the "Unemployed Women of South West Ham" group into the first London branch of the WSPU during the winter of 1905-6.
On February 19, 1906, hundreds of unemployed women traveled from Plaistow to St. James's Park for Parliament's state opening to demonstrate for women's suffrage. Emmeline Pankhurst was moved to tears seeing the simple white banners Sylvia had decorated. After learning the King's Speech contained no mention of women's suffrage, Mrs. Pankhurst led the women through rain to lobby MPs at the House of Commons. Though the House had been closed to women on government orders, eventually twenty at a time were admitted. Despite their persistence, no member would champion their cause, but Mrs. Pankhurst saw victory in their defiance: "Those women had followed me... they were awake at last... Our militant movement was established."
The term "suffragette" was first coined by Daily Mail journalist Charles Hands on January 10, 1906, intended as a diminutive insult. The WSPU proudly adopted it, pronouncing it with a hard "g" to emphasize they would "gette" the vote. For the WSPU leadership, this early media attention was valuable regardless of its tone-all publicity advanced their cause.
By 1906, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence had established the WSPU on solid financial footing, with weekly costs (equivalent to 10,000 today) covering salaries for eight organizers. Funding came from fifty-eight branches nationwide, wealthy donors like Clara Evelyn Mordan (who contributed 17,000), ticket sales, and merchandise. The financial team enforced strict accounting practices while employing thrifty methods-chalking pavement notices instead of advertising, holding street meetings on orange boxes, and gathering in public parks.
Chapter 4
Purple, White, and Green: The Spectacle of Suffrage
In January 1908, the WSPU escalated their tactics with the first use of chains as both practical tools and symbols of women's political bondage. They prepared for a three-day Women's Parliament at Caxton Hall in February, planning to smuggle women into Parliament via two furniture vans-a "Trojan horse" raid conceived by Harry Pankhurst.
Twenty-one women in each van nearly succeeded but were confronted by police who threw them into the road when they tried to enter. Marie Brackenbury recalled the "clattering of horses" and the moment when "the doors swung open, and we saw the House of Commons before us and out we all flew." Multiple waves of protesters attempted to reach Parliament that day, resulting in fifty arrests with forty-seven choosing imprisonment.
Sisters Marie and Georgina Brackenbury, along with their seventy-six-year-old widowed mother Hilda, exemplified how the movement drew in entire families. After being roughed up during the pantechnicon raid, they were sentenced to six weeks in Holloway. Their mother, despite her conservative upbringing as a general's wife, eventually embraced the cause through her daughters' persuasion.
The Women's Parliament concluded with Emmeline Pankhurst leading a final deputation to Parliament despite her painful ankle. When police ordered that women could only walk in single file, the weakened Pankhurst asked two members to support her. She was promptly arrested along with thirteen others, receiving sentences of four to six weeks. From Holloway's hospital wing, she sent a message titled "Work, Work, Work," urging supporters to continue organizing.
When Prime Minister Asquith suggested on May 20 that women's suffrage would require demonstrable support from the country's women, the WSPU eagerly accepted the challenge. They planned "Women's Sunday" for June 21, 1908, aiming to draw a quarter-million people to Hyde Park-far exceeding the previous record of 72,000.
Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence introduced the WSPU's iconic purple, white, and green color scheme, explaining: "Purple is the royal color... white stands for purity... green is the color of hope." She directed the 700 banners being created nationwide and instructed marchers to dress predominantly in white with purple and green accents.
On the day, Flora "General" Drummond led the event on horseback, wearing a purple, white and green peaked cap with gold sash and epaulettes. Seven processions converged on Hyde Park, bringing together women from all classes-mill girls from Lancashire, factory workers from the East End, office staff from Clement's Inn, and professional women. Twenty platforms hosted speakers including Emmeline Pankhurst, who marveled at the "vast garden in full bloom" created by women's white dresses against the ancient trees.
Despite some rowdy hecklers, the press declared it an overwhelming success, with attendance estimated at 250,000-750,000. The Standard called it "daringly conceived, splendidly stage-managed," while the Daily Mail praised the "young and dainty and charming" leaders. However, Christabel Pankhurst's follow-up message to Prime Minister Asquith demanding women's suffrage received only a dismissive reply, prompting her declaration that "militant methods must once more be resorted to."
Chapter 5
Breaking Windows and Breaking Barriers
Following Women's Sunday, the WSPU escalated its tactics when peaceful demonstration failed to move the government. On June 30, 1908, Emmeline Pankhurst led a deputation of twelve women to Parliament, but Prime Minister Asquith refused to meet them. That evening, twenty-seven women were arrested and sentenced to between one and three months in prison.
Mary Leigh and Edith New became the first suffragettes to deliberately break windows when they slipped away from the Parliament Square demonstration and smashed two panes at the prime minister's residence. When arrested, Edith declared, "Freedom for the women of England! We are martyrs." Both received two-month sentences with hard labor. Upon their August 22 release, they were greeted by a brass band playing "The Marseillaise," and a celebratory wagon hauled by twelve suffragettes.
The five Spong sisters became prominent suffragettes with their mother Frances's encouragement and their inventor father's tacit acceptance. Dora, a nurse and midwife working in London slums, was first arrested on June 30, 1908. Her sisters included Minnie (a teacher who worked in Africa), Annie (a portrait artist who studied dance with Isadora Duncan's brother), Florence (a weaver and artistic dressmaker), and Irene (a soprano who gave fundraising concerts).
Charlotte "Charlie" Marsh, described as a "born suffragette" with her initials C.A.L.M. belying her activist spirit, became a standard-bearer in suffragette processions. With her wealth of golden hair and natural leadership, she was arrested after climbing the House of Commons railings during the June 30 demonstration. May Billinghurst, known as "the cripple suffragette," paralyzed from the waist down since childhood, campaigned vigorously using her hand-powered invalid tricycle.
In response to the WSPU's growing visibility, the National Women's Anti-Suffrage League formed in July 1908, led by novelist Mrs. Humphry Ward, who warned that women's suffrage would "bring disaster upon England." Other prominent "antis" included Gertrude Bell, the noted Alpinist who had survived dangling off the Finsteraarhorn for two days, and Violet Markham, who believed giving votes to women would fill the electorate with "inexperienced and ignorant voters."
The WSPU's militancy escalated when Mrs. Pankhurst, Christabel and Flora Drummond urged crowds to "Come and rush the House of Commons" on October 13, 1908. Despite police barricades "bristling" around Parliament Square, Marion Wallace-Dunlop led eleven women toward Parliament while Una Dugdale was "dragged like a sack of potatoes" by plainclothes officers. Margaret "Maggie" Symons managed to dash into the Chamber itself, shouting "Leave off discussing the Children's Bill and turn your attention to the women's question!" before being carried out.
In Holloway Prison, the suffragettes maintained their defiance. Ada Flatman refused to bathe in "a very dirty old-fashioned bath" and emerged wearing an odd assortment of ill-fitting prison clothes with "broad black arrows." Mary Leigh, imprisoned for three months, secretly corresponded with Ada on prison toilet paper, meeting in the lavatory to exchange notes. The women formed an "awkward squad," talking through cell door grilles and smuggling letters to the outside world.
Chapter 6
Hunger Strikes and Force-Feeding: The Battle Intensifies
As the WSPU escalated their tactics, the struggle between suffragettes and the government intensified over their treatment in prison. While male political prisoners had historically been granted first division status-allowing them to wear their own clothes, receive books and letters, have outside food, associate with fellow political prisoners, and avoid prison work-the Liberal government refused to recognize suffragettes as political prisoners, instead treating them as common criminals.
In July 1909, Marion Wallace-Dunlop became the first to use hunger strike as a political weapon, refusing food for ninety-one hours before being released. Frederick Pethick-Lawrence wrote that her action had "stirred me to the depths of my being." Other suffragettes followed suit-Florence Spong refused food after being imprisoned for obstruction, breaking her cell windows and enduring "close confinement" in a damp cell with only a wooden plank for a bed before being released after four days.
When thirteen women were arrested disrupting Lloyd George's Limehouse meeting, they broke 150 panes of glass in prison, refused to give their names, resisted searches, and rejected prison clothing. Governor Scott reported they were "obstinate and mutinous." Officials debated force-feeding, with Sir Edward Troup suggesting it was "medically justifiable," while Herbert Gladstone worried it would become "a fine advertisement for these people."
The hunger strike tactic spread rapidly. In Exeter, Elsie Howey, Vera Wentworth and Mary Phillips were sentenced to seven days for obstructing police and immediately refused food. Though the prison doctor threatened to have them declared insane and force-fed, they persisted. In Liverpool, seven suffragettes including Mary Leigh and Theresa Garnett were arrested after breaking windows at the Sun Hall. Sentenced to two months, they sang "The Marseillaise" en route to Walton Gaol, broke the windows of the police van, and immediately began hunger strikes, resulting in their release within three days due to their "emaciated condition."
When suffragettes were imprisoned after disrupting a meeting in Birmingham, they immediately went on hunger strike. The authorities responded with force-feeding, beginning with Mary Leigh on September 24, 1909. The procedure was brutal: women were pinned down by wardresses while doctors inserted tubes through their nostrils or mouths. Mary described the sensation as "most painful-the drums of the ears seem to be bursting, a horrible pain in the throat and breast."
The WSPU countered negative press about their protests by releasing detailed accounts of the force-feeding. Keir Hardie wrote to The Times condemning the "brutality of these proceedings" and asking British men to contemplate "the spectacle" of women being forcibly fed. Prominent medical professionals spoke out against the practice. Dr. Charles Mansell-Moullin, whose wife Ruth was a WSPU member, condemned it in The Times. Psychiatrist Dr. Lyttelton Forbes Winslow wrote that force-feeding was so risky he had abandoned it, and 118 medical practitioners signed a petition to the prime minister protesting the "inhumane" treatment.
The force-feeding controversy prompted principled resignations from prominent journalists. Henry Brailsford and Henry Nevinson, both writers for the Liberal Daily News, quit their positions because their editor refused to condemn the practice. They declared: "We cannot denounce torture in Russia and support it in England, nor can we advocate democratic principles in the name of a party which confines them to a single sex."
Chapter 7
Black Friday: The Turning Point
The year 1910 brought both hope and betrayal for the suffragette movement. A Conciliation Bill supporting women's suffrage had passed its second reading with a strong majority, and the WSPU suspended militant tactics to allow it to proceed. However, on November 18, 1910-a day that would become known as "Black Friday"-the WSPU held their ninth Women's Parliament at Caxton Hall before Mrs. Pankhurst led a deputation to Parliament. As the women gathered, news arrived that Asquith had announced Parliament's dissolution on November 28th with no mention of the Conciliation Bill-it was "well and truly dead." The sense of betrayal was total.
Mrs. Pankhurst, accompanied by 74-year-old Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and other prominent women including Princess Sophia Duleep Singh (Queen Victoria's goddaughter), led 300 women toward Parliament Square. When Asquith refused to see them, they resolved to remain outside Parliament until the House rose. What followed was six hours of unprecedented police brutality. Some 150 women were physically assaulted, with 29 sexually molested. Women reported being thrown to the ground, beaten, groped, and dragged down side streets for further abuse. Even May Billinghurst in her wheelchair was repeatedly targeted.
Henria Williams testified she didn't wear corsets, making her treatment more painful when police grabbed her heart. Frank Whitty, a gentleman's outfitter, rescued her, protecting her from "blows, kicks and insults" and preventing her from falling under horses' hooves. By day's end, 119 arrests had been made, and Caxton Hall had been transformed into a field hospital treating black eyes, bleeding noses, sprains and dislocations.
The day after Black Friday, the Daily Mirror published a damning photograph of Ada Wright sprawled face-down on the pavement after being struck by police. The image was so damaging that the government ordered it suppressed and the negative destroyed.
Black Friday fundamentally changed suffragette tactics. Some women refused to participate in further deputations to Parliament, while others embraced more militant actions like stone-throwing and window-breaking that would lead to immediate arrest rather than physical abuse. In early January 1911, Henria Williams died of angina, her death attributed to her participation in Black Friday where she had been "terribly knocked about" and returned "gasping for breath, with face and lips blackened by suffocation." Her brother wrote that she had "knowingly and willingly shortened her days in rendering services to the womanhood of the nation."
Chapter 8
From Broken Windows to Arson: The Escalation of Militancy
By early 1912, the WSPU's patience had run out. After years of peaceful protests, deputations, and hunger strikes had failed to secure the vote, they turned to more destructive tactics. On March 1st, Emmeline Pankhurst, Mabel Tuke and Kitty Marshall broke windows at 10 Downing Street with stones, immediately facing arrest. Within the hour, 150 suffragettes-many first-time militants using hammers supplied by Clement's Inn-systematically smashed windows of shops and businesses across London's commercial districts.
The WSPU justified targeting retail establishments by arguing businesses should pressure the government to support women's suffrage. By day's end, 124 women were arrested for causing 5,000 worth of damage. The streets descended into chaos as shopkeepers hastily erected shutters and any unaccompanied woman with a handbag became an object of suspicion.
Kitty Marshall described the chaos in Holloway as over a hundred women were processed. When prisoners learned that convicted women couldn't mix with those on remand, preventing them from joining Mrs. Pankhurst, they staged a mutiny-banging doors, singing The Marseillaise to suffragette lyrics, and breaking cell windows. Many suffragettes went on hunger strike and endured brutal force-feeding.
Despite the hardships of prison, suffragettes found ways to maintain morale. Olive Walton's diary reveals how they organized exercise activities, obstacle races, concerts on combs, and even improvised golf and tennis with sticks, stones, and dustpans. They embroidered prison aprons with suffragette mottos like "Let's Up and at 'Em" and "Dare to Be Free," which the governor asked them to unpick before release.
The escalation continued when Emily Davison set fire to a pillar box in Fleet Street by dropping in a flaming packet of cotton soaked in kerosene. Disappointed by the lack of press coverage, she returned three days later to confess, but was dismissed by a policeman who refused to arrest her. On December 14th, Emily systematically attacked multiple pillar boxes across London, finally being arrested in Parliament Street.
By 1913, arson had become a common tactic. The WSPU released a new propaganda poster titled "Forcible Feeding through the Nose of Women Suffragist Prisoners" showing a terrified girl held down while a doctor pushed a tube up her nose and a matron poured liquid into a funnel. On May 15, Emmeline Pankhurst and the Pethick-Lawrences were tried at the Central Criminal Court for conspiracy to damage property. After five days of evidence, the jury found them guilty but recommended leniency due to their "pure motives." Lord Coleridge ignored this plea, sentencing all three to nine months in the second division.
Chapter 9
The Final Push: From Art Attacks to War
On March 10, 1914, Mary Richardson attacked Velazquez's "The Rokeby Venus" at the National Gallery with an axe hidden in her sleeve, earning the nickname "Slasher Mary." In an open letter, she explained: "I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for trying to destroy Mrs. Pankhurst who is the most beautiful character in modern history." Richardson had planned the attack carefully, receiving approval from Christabel Pankhurst in Paris. When arrested, she declared, "You can get another picture, but you cannot get a life, they are killing Mrs. Pankhurst." She was sentenced to six months with hard labor.
By this time, Mrs. Pankhurst had become a fugitive, constantly evading police. Her bodyguard comprised women from diverse backgrounds-shop assistants, teachers, a dressmaker, clerks, a former mill worker, a children's nurse, servants, a "society lady," and middle-class women. Under Gertrude Harding's direction, they became skilled at creating diversions and protecting their leader, wielding Indian clubs hidden in their clothing when confronting police.
On May 21, 1914, suffragettes made their final mass protest-a deputation to see King George V at Buckingham Palace. Mrs. Pankhurst, who had been hiding in a remote country retreat to recover her strength, led the attempt despite the King's February refusal to meet them. Fifteen hundred policemen surrounded the Palace as crowds gathered. At four o'clock, a weakened Mrs. Pankhurst was pushed forward by supporters directly into police lines, where Chief Inspector Rolfe lifted her into his arms and carried her away to be returned to Holloway Prison. The Daily Mirror captured this moment in a dramatic photograph showing her dangling feet as she was seized.
The confrontation at Buckingham Palace turned violent as suffragettes rushed police lines. Charlotte Drake from Canning Town witnessed police brutality, seeing officers "twisting their arms, punching them and pulling their hair." She and May Billinghurst faced brutal treatment-police officers picked up May's wheelchair, turned it over, and dropped her on the ground.
Public anger against suffragettes intensified. In Hyde Park, crowds drowned out women speakers and overturned their wagon. At Lyons' Corner House in Piccadilly, diners pelted two leafleting suffragettes with cutlery, crockery, bread and cake. The women were trapped in an elevator between floors for fifteen minutes while objects were thrown through the metal grilles.
Then, on August 3, 1914, Britain declared war on Germany. The declaration sparked patriotic demonstrations across London, with twenty thousand gathering at Buckingham Palace and crowds singing the National Anthem. On August 13th, Mrs. Pankhurst wrote to WSPU members announcing the temporary suspension of the campaign for women's votes, noting that "the most vigorous militancy is for the time being rendered less effective by contrast with the infinitely greater violence" of war. Within ten days, all suffragette prisoners were released in an amnesty, having agreed to end all militancy.
The war created both hardship and opportunity for women. Working-class families suffered when men enlisted, facing sudden income drops. However, labor shortages opened new opportunities in food processing, public transport, utilities and services. Women replaced men in various trades-though trade unions insisted this arrangement was temporary and women received lower wages.
The Representation of the People Act became law on February 6, 1918, granting the vote to women over thirty who met specific qualifications: householders, wives of householders, occupiers of property with annual rent of 5, or university graduates. The Act enfranchised 8.4 million women and made them eligible to stand as Members of Parliament. While welcomed by all wings of the suffrage movement, there was no celebration due to wartime sorrows. The full franchise for women over twenty-one finally came in 1928, shortly after Emmeline Pankhurst's death.
Chapter 10
The Legacy of the Suffragettes
Once the limited franchise was gained in 1918, the ties binding suffragettes together dissolved. Many retired from activism while others channeled their energies into diverse causes-from left and right-wing politics to feminism, theosophy, and animal welfare. Some disappeared from public view, perhaps eager to leave their tumultuous past behind, while others insisted on using maiden names when writing their memoirs to protect husbands' careers.
The suffragettes' post-campaign lives reflected the diverse backgrounds that had been drawn to the movement-some became involved with women's organizations like the British Legion, others entered politics or journalism, and a few lived to become centenarians who witnessed the profound social changes their activism had helped create.
Olive Bartels received an OBE in 1920 for her War Office work, later ran a Guernsey market garden, and worked for the National Union of Women Teachers. Rosa May Billinghurst campaigned for Christabel Pankhurst in the 1918 election and later joined the Women's Freedom League. Elsie Bowerman worked with hospital units in Romania, became one of the first women barristers, and later worked at the United Nations. Mary Gawthorpe emigrated to America, working for suffrage and labor organizations before publishing her memoir "Up Hill to Holloway" in 1962.
The suffragettes' militant campaign had transformed British politics forever. Their willingness to sacrifice comfort, reputation, and physical safety for a political principle demonstrated a level of commitment rarely seen before. They pioneered protest tactics that would influence generations of activists to come, from hunger strikes to property destruction as political statement. Most importantly, they refused to accept that women's exclusion from political life was natural or inevitable.
Today, the purple, white, and green colors of the suffragette movement remain instantly recognizable symbols of women's political struggle. Their battle cry "Deeds not words" continues to inspire those fighting for equality and justice. As we look back on their remarkable campaign more than a century later, we can appreciate both the extraordinary courage of these women and how recently the fundamental right to vote was won through their sacrifice and determination.
