100 years of votes for women

On November 13, 1909, Winston Churchill was confronted at Bristol Temple Meads by a Suffragette, who lunged at him with a whip, crying “take that you brute”.

Theresa Garnett, had broken through a police cordon to lobby the then president of the board of trade for votes for women.

She was dragged away and served a month in Horfield prison for her actions.

There, she went on hunger strike and was forcibly fed. Garnett set fire to her cell in protest and so was placed in solitary confinement. The treatment she received was later described by a lawyer as brutal.

The fight for women’s suffrage was heating up and – after decades of quiet campaigning – the Suffragettes were resorting to increasingly militant methods to get their voices heard, a tactic that was met with violence and intensified Government repression.

Lucienne Boyce, author of The Bristol Suffragettes

“Bristol was very active – the city had a strong movement legacy because of its roots in 19th Century campaigning,” says Lucienne Boyce, author of The Bristol Suffragettes.

“We had women campaigning against the slave trade and for working women’s rights, housing reform and education. What we have in Bristol is a big, radical centre of campaigners.

“The Suffragettes right from the start lobbied MPs, and this was at a time when women did not speak at meetings.

“Political campaigning was quite rough in those days and could be quite violent. When women came in and started using those tactics, the Liberal MPs, rather than answering the women, just started throwing them out.”

Of Bristol’s four MPs, three were from the Liberal ruling party, and at least one was a prominent anti-suffragist. The city became a central hub for the suffrage campaign.

The movement itself was not without conflict in ideology and method, as the Suffragettes endorsed ever-militant tactics that many suffragists disagreed with, arguing the battle should be fought through peaceful means.

Dr Madge Dresser

“The Suffragettes were genius at marketing and branding – they had the purple and green colours, but they also got increasingly violent,” says Bristol historian Dr Madge Dresser.

“The suffrage movement was not just about the vote, it was about more women having access to education and employment and the right to be heard – these are all reasons why women wanted the vote.”

‘Deeds not words’ was the motto adopted by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), founded by the charismatic Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903 and launched in Bristol by her loyal follower Annie Kenney in 1907.

A former mill girl and trade unionist from Lancashire, Kenney was the first woman to go to prison for cause, along with Mrs Pankhurst’s eldest daughter, Christabel. Upon arrival in Bristol, she set about gathering support and a WSPU shop was opened in Queen’s Road in 1908.

By the following year, the movement was making its mark across the city and beyond.

It was during this year that the Asquith government embarked on a tour of the UK to promote the ‘People’s Budget’, which had been blocked by the House of Lords.

To protect the politicians, women were banned from meetings – but they found ways of making their voices heard.

Two Suffragettes hid in the organ of the Colston Hall

One notable event on May 1 1909 saw Suffragettes Elsie Howey and Vera Holme interrupt a speech by Bristol North MP Augustine Birrell with shouts of “votes for women”.

The pair has spent the afternoon hiding in the organ inside the Colston Hall, from where they watched police search the building prior to a Liberal meeting.

Others, meanwhile, protested outside the venue.

On June 29, 1909, The WSPU sanctioned a targeted window-smashing campaign, throwing stones wrapped in Suffragette literature into Government buildings.

There were 12 women charged with window-breaking. They were sentenced and sent to Holloway Prison, among them was Bedminster-born widow Lillian Dove-Willcox.

By the end of 1912, the Women’s Revolution was underway, leading to a campaign of letter box attacks around the country, in line with the Suffragettes’ policy to harm property, not people.

At a meeting in Bristol on Wednesday, October 22 1912, a speech by Bristol East MP and anti-suffragist Charles Hobhouse was interrupted with demands for the release of imprisoned Suffragette Mary Richardson.

In retaliation, the politician said he hoped the measure to give women voting rights never passed.

On Thursday, October 23, 1912, Bristol University’s sports pavilion at Coombe Dingle – completed only two years earlier at a cost of £2,000 – was destroyed by fire.

A singed note was found nearby saying: ‘Business before pleasure. Hobhouse being responsible will pay. Release Mary Richardson’.

The ruined WSPU shop on Queen’s Road.

Around 300 students mobilised in retaliation. Armed with bricks, sticks, hatchets and flammable materials, they descended on the WSPU shop on Queen’s Road (now U Studio).

The two women in the shop at the time were forewarned about the angry mob and called the police. They were promised protection, but this never materialised.

The students smashed their way into the shop and set about looting and wrecking the premises, starting a blazing bonfire in the street outside.

One woman managed to escape through the back door, but the other was forced to jump out of the upstairs window.

When police officers finally arrived at the scene, they did little more than keep crowds out of harm’s way.

The following day, as women began to clear up the mess, students returned, pelting them with missiles and eggs, before attempting to light another bonfire. One arrest was made in the two day affray – a student who assaulted a police officer.

The Bristol Times & Mirror reported the act as “an exciting scene – wonderfully organised.”

The boat house in Eastville Park, burned down by Suffragettes

The women were not to be intimidated and 1913 brought two more headline-grabbing arson attacks on Begbrook Mansion in Frenchay and a boathouse in Eastville Park.

In the summer of 1914, war was declared. All Suffragette prisoners were released and Mrs Pankhurst suspended WSPU activities to focus on the war effort.

It was demands for wider enfranchisement for men on the front line that put votes for women back on the table again.

On February 6, 1918, the Representation of the People Act granted the vote to women over 30, who were occupiers – or wives of occupiers – of property and to female university graduates over 30.

The Equal Franchise Act was passed on July 2 1928, giving women the vote on the same terms as men.

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Bristol will be celebrating 100 years of votes for women throughout 2018.

Bristol Women’s Voice, in partnership with Bristol City Council, will host a Lantern Parade and City Hall reception at 6pm on February 6 to mark the centenary.

To find out more about activities and events, visit: www.bristolwomensvoice.org.uk.

Historic images thanks to Bristol Archives.

Read more: Celebrating 100 years of votes for women in Bristol