12 The Nevinsons’ Hampstead – and central London entertainments
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Jill Liddington
Abstract
In north London, Hampstead boasted a goodly share of suffrage organizations. Some of the fiercest ‘battle for the census’ arguments were aired here. For the NUWSS, Lady Strachey and her daughter Pippa fiercely opposed the boycott. Hampstead also saw support for broader adult suffrage legislation, from the Women's Labour League and Women's Co-operative Guild. Nearby on Haverstock Hill, Henry and Margaret Nevinson lived together (though not amicably). His daily diary provides hour-by-hour testimony of census weekend. Henry strode uphill to visit the Brailsfords, attended an Actresses’ Franchise League performance, and spoke at the WFL meeting in Trafalgar Square, And he filled in his census schedule, providing information about himself, his son and two domestic servants ~ but of Margaret nothing. Yet it seems clear that she and other women were evading there overnight. Henry provides compelling eye-witness guide to the glittering city-centre entertainments ~ late night at Trafalgar Square (with suffragette Evelyn Sharp), then on to Covent Garden and to the Aldwych roller-skating rink. Here he listened to the WSPU entertainment and at 6 am skated with a suffragette actress, ‘a thing I never dreamt of’. He wrote up his experiences vividly in Votes for Women.
Abstract
In north London, Hampstead boasted a goodly share of suffrage organizations. Some of the fiercest ‘battle for the census’ arguments were aired here. For the NUWSS, Lady Strachey and her daughter Pippa fiercely opposed the boycott. Hampstead also saw support for broader adult suffrage legislation, from the Women's Labour League and Women's Co-operative Guild. Nearby on Haverstock Hill, Henry and Margaret Nevinson lived together (though not amicably). His daily diary provides hour-by-hour testimony of census weekend. Henry strode uphill to visit the Brailsfords, attended an Actresses’ Franchise League performance, and spoke at the WFL meeting in Trafalgar Square, And he filled in his census schedule, providing information about himself, his son and two domestic servants ~ but of Margaret nothing. Yet it seems clear that she and other women were evading there overnight. Henry provides compelling eye-witness guide to the glittering city-centre entertainments ~ late night at Trafalgar Square (with suffragette Evelyn Sharp), then on to Covent Garden and to the Aldwych roller-skating rink. Here he listened to the WSPU entertainment and at 6 am skated with a suffragette actress, ‘a thing I never dreamt of’. He wrote up his experiences vividly in Votes for Women.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents 237
- List of maps vii
- List of figures viii
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xiii
- Chronology xiv
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Prelude: people and their politics
- 1 Charlotte Despard and John Burns, the Colossus of Battersea 13
- 2 Muriel Matters goes vanning it with Asquith 24
- 3 Propaganda culture 36
- 4 Parallel politics 48
-
Part II Narrative: October 1909 to April 1911
- 5 Plotting across central London 63
- 6 The battle for John Burns’s Battersea revisited 71
- 7 The Census Bill and the boycott plan 78
- 8 Lloyd George goes a-wooing versus Burns’s ‘vixens in velvet’ 86
- 9 The King’s Speech 97
- 10 Battleground for democracy 108
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Part III Census night: places and spaces
- 11 Emily Wilding Davison’s Westminster – and beyond 125
- 12 The Nevinsons’ Hampstead – and central London entertainments 132
- 13 Laurence Housman’s Kensington, with Clemence in Dorset 145
- 14 Annie Kenney’s Bristol and Mary Blathwayt’s Bath 154
- 15 Jessie Stephenson’s Manchester and Hannah Mitchell’s Oldham Road 169
- 16 English journey 183
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Part IV The census and beyond
- 17 After census night 197
- 18 Telling the story 209
- 19 Sources and their analysis 219
-
Front matter
- Contents 237
- Introduction 239
- Abbreviations 242
- Key mass evasions 243
- London boroughs and Middlesex 245
- Midlands 300
- Southern England 333
- Northern England 342
- Notes 363
- Select bibliography 389
- Index 395
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents 237
- List of maps vii
- List of figures viii
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xiii
- Chronology xiv
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Prelude: people and their politics
- 1 Charlotte Despard and John Burns, the Colossus of Battersea 13
- 2 Muriel Matters goes vanning it with Asquith 24
- 3 Propaganda culture 36
- 4 Parallel politics 48
-
Part II Narrative: October 1909 to April 1911
- 5 Plotting across central London 63
- 6 The battle for John Burns’s Battersea revisited 71
- 7 The Census Bill and the boycott plan 78
- 8 Lloyd George goes a-wooing versus Burns’s ‘vixens in velvet’ 86
- 9 The King’s Speech 97
- 10 Battleground for democracy 108
-
Part III Census night: places and spaces
- 11 Emily Wilding Davison’s Westminster – and beyond 125
- 12 The Nevinsons’ Hampstead – and central London entertainments 132
- 13 Laurence Housman’s Kensington, with Clemence in Dorset 145
- 14 Annie Kenney’s Bristol and Mary Blathwayt’s Bath 154
- 15 Jessie Stephenson’s Manchester and Hannah Mitchell’s Oldham Road 169
- 16 English journey 183
-
Part IV The census and beyond
- 17 After census night 197
- 18 Telling the story 209
- 19 Sources and their analysis 219
-
Front matter
- Contents 237
- Introduction 239
- Abbreviations 242
- Key mass evasions 243
- London boroughs and Middlesex 245
- Midlands 300
- Southern England 333
- Northern England 342
- Notes 363
- Select bibliography 389
- Index 395
