19 Sources and their analysis
-
Jill Liddington
Abstract
From January 2009 The National Archives (TNA) released individual schedules ~ three years earlier than expected. It suddenly became possible to access electronically what individual households had written. With fellow suffrage historian Elizabeth Crawford, I travelled down to TNA at Kew ~ and began to explore. From the database we created, patterns gradually emerged: virtually all the NUWSS suffragists complied. Many suffragettes boycotted; married women were often absent from home ~ the ‘mysteriously missing wife’. By early 2010 Elizabeth moved her research focus sideways. But I remained keenly fascinated by the boycott ~ and determined on a full-length account. I rethought my research approach (not around individuals but around households, the basic census unit). And I rethought my own suffrage landscape: my centre of gravity shifted decisively southwards, from the Pennines where I live 120 miles down towards Buckinghamshire. And as I made research journeys during 2010, criss-crossing the country, my research centre of gravity dropped south once again, nearer north London. This final chapter of Vanishing for the Vote analyses the patterns that began to emerge: distance from London, occupation, suffrage and neighbour allegiances. It also celebrates those little-known women with courage to ‘vanish for the vote’.
Abstract
From January 2009 The National Archives (TNA) released individual schedules ~ three years earlier than expected. It suddenly became possible to access electronically what individual households had written. With fellow suffrage historian Elizabeth Crawford, I travelled down to TNA at Kew ~ and began to explore. From the database we created, patterns gradually emerged: virtually all the NUWSS suffragists complied. Many suffragettes boycotted; married women were often absent from home ~ the ‘mysteriously missing wife’. By early 2010 Elizabeth moved her research focus sideways. But I remained keenly fascinated by the boycott ~ and determined on a full-length account. I rethought my research approach (not around individuals but around households, the basic census unit). And I rethought my own suffrage landscape: my centre of gravity shifted decisively southwards, from the Pennines where I live 120 miles down towards Buckinghamshire. And as I made research journeys during 2010, criss-crossing the country, my research centre of gravity dropped south once again, nearer north London. This final chapter of Vanishing for the Vote analyses the patterns that began to emerge: distance from London, occupation, suffrage and neighbour allegiances. It also celebrates those little-known women with courage to ‘vanish for the vote’.
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
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
