Suffragettes and the 1911 Census

Another interesting example of suffragettes in the 1911 census is at 68 Manningham Lane, Bradford - Piece 26744 Sch 287. The enumerator also comments on this household in his summary book.

It's not easy to find the image of the schedule and we've so far only found it at Ancestry, by entering the piece number & the surname Phillips only.

Mary Phillips was a prominent suffragette and 68 Manningham Lane was the address of the WSPU office in Bradford. We believe a relative by marriage is almost certainly one of the 9 unnamed women at the premises.

Pauline

 

The whole issue of acknowledging the contribution of every suffragette and indeed every woman who contributed to the struggle for the right to vote has always interested me. I'm going to visit Seneca Falls in upstate New York again next month to see the Women's Rights Museum, it's a very well thought out tribute to American women involved in emancipation. I don't think anything similar exists in the UK? The more important landmark in Canada is considered to be the "Famous Five " case through which Canadian women were declared persons and therefore had the right to be elected to the Senate. The tea party statue on Parliament Hill in Ottawa brilliantly captures this event.

 

There are Women's Libraries in London (now at the LSE) and in Glasgow which have collections relating to suffragettes etc. Both have websites and (I think) online catalogues.

Pauline

 

There is a great online resource for New Zealand women who supported the suffrage movement - a database of the 1893 petition which was signed by about 1/4 of the nation's women (although, sadly, not all signatures have survived) and resulted in women being granted the vote in 1893. I'm proud of how many of my g-g-grandmothers and their sisters and cousins signed up. More about the petition and suffrage can be found here.

 

I've visited both Women's libraries in the UK, great places with an amazing vibe and the New Zealand resource sounds fantastic, congratulations Suzanne. Hopefully our Aussie friends can help us out as well. The point however I wanted to make was that places you can physically visit that provide an overview have a greater impact on your understanding and appreciation of any struggle for recognition. There was a marvellous exhibition at the Museum of London several years ago of material from their archives but it isn't part of their permanent exhibit space. I bought several postcard reproductions of suffragette posters at the time and I am very tempted by their current on line shop !

 

This afternoon I came across a reference to another suffragette who refused to complete the 1911 census. This was Elizabeth Robins (1862-1952), an American actress and writer, whose house in Henfield, Sussex was used as a place of refuge for suffragettes. Elizabeth Robins was known by various names, including Mrs Parks, which is the name she enters (no first name) on the census return with scant additional information. The entry under Marital Status has been transcribed as Punchy - I'm not sure about that. If you click on the left arrow on the image to move to the previous image you can see what she wrote in explanation for her failure to complete the return. Entering "Parks" as surname, "Steyning" as registration district, and "Henfield" as parish should bring up the result. The piece number is 5230, schedule 72. Information about the book on the history of Horsham district where I found the reference can be found here https://www.horshammuseum.org/shop/books-and-publications (Help, please! I've forgotten how to hide the link)

 

Write some words such as horsham museum then highlight those words and click on the link symbol above, it brings up a dialogue box and that's where you enter (copy and paste it) the full URL for the site you are linking to.
I hope that helps/makes sense.

While on the subject of Suffragettes, we watched a documentary on TV here in NZ called Edwardian Britain in colour. It has film of the lady (I forget her name) who tried to get close to the king's horse and her funeral. magnificent footage
I found an excerpt in you tube here

 

Many thanks, At home in NZ, I'll try and remember that for next time.

The suffragette who stepped in front of the King's horse was Emily Wilding Davison.