Suffragette Collection, 1894-1936

The suffrage movement 

Suffragettes advocated for the right to vote to be extended to women. The term ‘suffragist’ was a general term for those who supported women’s suffrage, and the term ‘suffragette’ was coined in 1906 by the Daily Mail to distinguish those who advocated the use of militant tactics to win the right to vote. 

The women’s suffrage movement began in the late nineteenth century and became a national movement with the formation of The National Society for Women’s Suffrage in 1867 by Lydia Becker. Later came the more influential National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, created under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett. A significant shift in the suffrage movement occurred in the early 20th century, when more suffragists supported militant action after being disappointed with years of no progress. In 1906, Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia established the Women’s Social and Political Union. The motto of the organisation was ‘Deeds Not Words’. 

The women’s suffrage movement succeeded in influencing the passage of two pieces of legislation which extended the franchise to women. The Representation of the People Act 1918 extended the right to vote to women over the age of 30 who met certain property qualifications. The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 expanded the vote to all women over the age of 21, bringing the right to vote for women in line with men. 

The collection brings together the stories of women of all classes who actively supported women’s suffrage in a variety of ways: attending peaceful demonstrations, committing arson attacks and public disobedience, breaking windows, chalking on footpaths, and more. You will find working-class women alongside aristocratic women in these records. They also include the names of male suffragettes who were arrested alongside their female comrades. 

The records in this series  

This series provides access to records spanning from 1902 to 1919, comprising over 20,000 images from The National Archives. The series includes documents from the following series of records from The National Archives: AR 1, ASSI 52, CAB 23, CAB 37, CAB 41, COPY 1, CRIM 1, CRIM 9, DPP 1, FO 371, FO 608, HO 144, HO 45, HO  140, J 86, KV 2, LAB 2, LO 3, MEPO 2, MEPO 3, MEPO 5, MT 10, PCOM 7, PCOM 8, PP 1, PRO 30, T 1, T 172, TS 27, WORK 11, and WORK 19. Among these are photographs of suffragettes, cabinet letters, calendars of prisoners, Home Office papers of suffragette disturbances, an index of women arrested between 1906 and 1914 (the official watch list of over 1,300 suffragettes), reports of force-feeding, and more. 

Below is a downloadable full list of all the series and archive references contained in this collection. 

The newspapers in this series 

This series also provides access to 13 newspapers dating from 1894 until 1945, comprising over 58,000 newspaper pages from the British Library. The following publications included in this series are searchable by year, month, or newspaper title: 

• Church League For Women's Suffrage 
• Common Cause 
• Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Review 
• Free Church Suffrage Times 
• The International Woman Suffrage News 
• The Irish Citizen 
• The Suffragette/Britannia 
• The Vote 
• Votes For Women 
• Woman's Dreadnought 
• Woman's Signal 
• Women's Franchise 
• Women's Suffrage Record 

Among these titles, The Suffragette, later Britannia, stands out. It was edited by Christabel Pankhurst and was the official organ of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). The WSPU was formed in 1903 by the Pankhurst family and became known for its emphasis on militant action and its motto: ‘Deeds not Words’. In 1915, the newspaper title changed its name to reflect the WSPU’s patriotic ideals and was used to campaign for the war effort while retaining a focus on women’s issues. With each issue, you will discover the efforts by the WSPU towards women’s suffrage and in support of the Allies and the First World War. In the early years of the newspaper, before the Pankhursts vowed to set aside their militant actions to support the war, the articles told of the violent and disruptive actions of the suffragettes. The paper also featured articles on a range of topics affecting the women of Britain. 

The women featured in this series 

There are numerous well-known names of suffragettes found in these records and newspaper pages. Below is just a selection of some notable names: 

• Emmeline, Christabel, and Sylvia Pankhurst were leaders of the women’s suffrage movement and founded the Women’s Social and Political Union and supported the militant actions of suffragettes. 
• Leonora Cohen acted as the personal bodyguard for Emmeline Pankhurst and was arrested after smashing the display case of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, an action which gave her the nickname the ‘Tower Suffragette’. 
• Emily Wilding Davison was arrested on nine occasions, commenced a hunger strike in prison, and was force-fed. One of her arrests was, famously, for hiding overnight in Parliament on the same night the 1911 Census was recorded. In 1913, she was killed by King George V’s horse after walking onto the track at the Epsom Derby. 
• Marion Wallace Dunlop was the first suffragette to go on a hunger strike while in prison. 
• Flora McKinnon Drummond was given the nickname ‘the General’ for the way that she led women’s marches. Drummond was arrested nine times and was a frequent speaker at demonstrations. 
• Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe was arrested when she interrupted Churchill’s speech in 1909, Gawthorpe was badly beaten while imprisoned and suffered internal injuries. 
• Lilian Ida Lenton was arrested for arson at the Tea House at Kew Gardens. Lenton escaped Holloway prison by dressing as an errand boy and fled to France. 
• Lady Constance Lytton was arrested and force-fed while on hunger strike. Lady Lytton used the alias Jane Warton in order to avoid special treatment because of her title. 
• Hannah Mitchell was involved with the Women’s Social and Political Union. Her autobiography The Hard Way Up was used by Abi Morgan, the screenwriter of the 2015 film Suffragette, as inspiration for one of the film’s working-class characters. 
• George Lansbury was a political and social reformer. Lansbury represented the East End of London and promoted social justice and women’s rights. His name is listed among the index of suffragettes.