A portrait of the battle for voting rights in a rural English county, and the dramatic life and death of one fierce suffragette. For much of the nineteenth century, the women of Northumberland occupied crucial, though largely underappreciated, roles in society. Aside from the hard life of raising families in an area where money was often hard to come by and much of the available work was labor-intensive and dangerous, women were also expected to help bring money into the household. In what was a largely agrarian county, female laborers, known as bondagers, were widely respected for their contribution to the local economy, though there were those who criticized the system for forcing women to undertake hard manual labor. The farming economy in Northumberland depended so much on female labor that many men found it easier to be taken on by an employer if they were able to bring a suitable female worker with them. The period was also one of considerable upheaval. There were a number of prominent Northumbrian suffragists, and the local radical suffragettes launched attacks in the area. Morpeth was a very early supporter of women’s suffrage and the mayor and local council actively supported the cause, though they remained largely opposed to the actions of the suffragettes. Among other topics, this book follows the story of London-born Emily Wilding Davison, whose mother was Northumbrian and had a wide network of relations in the county. After her father’s death, her mother relocated to the Northumberland village of Longhorsley and Emily spent long periods with her, recuperating after her numerous hunger strikes. Famously losing her life after being struck by the king’s horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby, Emily was buried with great ceremony in a quiet churchyard and to this day remains one of Morpeth’s most famous (adopted) daughters, her grave a site of pilgrimage for supporters of women’s rights.

For much of the nineteenth century, the women of Northumberland had occupied crucial, though largely underappreciated and acknowledged, roles within society. Aside from the hard life of raising families in an area where money was often hard to come by, and where much of the available work was labour intensive and dangerous, women were also expected to play a role in bringing money into the household.In what was a largely agrarian county, female labourers, who were known as bondagers, were widely respected for their contribution to the local economy although there were those who criticised the system for forcing women to undertake hard manual labour. The farming economy in Northumberland depended so much upon female labour that many men found that it was far easier to be taken on by a prospective employer if they could assure that employer that they would be able to bring a suitable female worker with them.The period was also one of considerable upheaval. There were a number of prominent Northumbrian suffragists and the local radical suffragettes launched a number of attacks in the area. Morpeth was a very early supporter of women's suffrage and the Mayor and local council actively gave their support to the cause, although they remained largely opposed to the actions of the suffragettes. Although born in London, Emily Wilding Davison's mother was Northumbrian and she had a wide network of relations in Morpeth and throughout the county. After her father's death her mother had relocated to the Northumberland village of Longhorsley and Emily spent long period with her, recuperating after her numerous hunger strikes. Famously losing her life after being struck by the King's horse at the 1913 Derby, Emily was buried with great ceremony in a quiet Morpeth churchyard and to this day she remains one of Morpeth's most famous (adopted) daughters, with her grave remaining a site of pilgrimage for many supporters of women's rights.

This widely acclaimed book has been described by History Today as a 'landmark in the study of the women's movement'. It is the only comprehensive reference work to bring together in one volume the wealth of information available on the women's movement. Drawing on national and local archival sources, the book contains over 400 biographical entries and more than 800 entries on societies in England, Scotland and Wales. Easily accessible and rigorously cross-referenced, this invaluable resource covers not only the political developments of the campaign but provides insight into its cultural context, listing novels, plays and films.

This book tells the story of the women's suffrage movement in Britain beginning with John Stuart Mill's proposal of a women's suffrage amendment to a reform bill. It ends with the victory of 1928, concluding more than 50 years of repeated defeats, anti-suffragism, militancy, imprisonment, hunger strikes and forcible feeding, and multiple internal splits and their only partial victory of 1918. It is not intended to break new ground in academia, but to provide an introduction to the general reader that covers the entire relevant time period and introduces major themes and issues.

First published in 1911, “The Suffragette - The History of The Women's Militant Suffrage Movement – 1905-1910” is an account of the progress and happenings of the Militant Women's Suffrage Movement by Emmeline Pankhurst, outlining both the steps by which the movement grew and the motives and ideas that animated its promoters. This volume offers a fascinating insight into the origins and struggles of the British suffragette movement and is not to be missed by those with an interest in suffragism and women's history. Contents include: “The Early Days”, “The Beginning of the Militant Tactics”, “The General Election of 1906”, “January to May, 1906”, “May to August, 1906”, “October to November, 1906”, “November, 1906, to February, 1907”, etc. Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928) was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women attain voting rights. “Time” magazine named Pankhurst one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century in 1999.

The suffrage movement remains the largest autonomous political movement of women in British history. The Routledge Companion to British Women’s Suffrage provides a comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art contemporary scholarship on this movement. Arranged across four thematic sections, this volume explores the range of developments in suffrage research since the 1990s, combining a range of scholars’ unique insights to offer a much more complete picture of the British suffrage campaign. Each section provides a thoroughgoing overview of different approaches that have underpinned studies of the British suffrage movement, across disciplines ranging from history and gender studies, to literature, digital humanities, and sociology. Sections also explore the various aspects of the material cultures of the suffrage campaign, the variety of suffrage organisations, and the legacies of the movement. The Routledge Companion to British Women’s Suffrage is an essential handbook for those studying the history, sociology, and politics of the suffrage movement, with a valuable insight into contemporary developments in research.

One of the most memorable images of the British women’s suffrage movement occurred on June 4, Derby Day, 1913. As the field of horses approached a turning at Epsom, militant suffragette Emily Wilding Davison ducked out from under the railing and ran onto the track, reaching for the bridle of the King’s horse, and was killed in the collision. While her death transformed her into a heroine, it all but erased her identity. To identify what impelled Davison to suffer multiple imprisonments, to experience the torture of force-feedings and the insults of hostile members of the crowds who came to hear her speak, Carolyn P. Collette explores a largely ignored source—the writing to which Davison dedicated so much time and effort during the years from 1908 to 1913. Davison’s writing is an implicit apologia for why she lived the life of a militant suffragette and where she continually revisits and restates the principles that guided her: that woman suffrage was necessary to improve the lives of men, women, and children; that the freedom and justice women sought was sanctioned by God and unjustly withheld by humans whose opposition constituted a tyranny that had to be opposed; and that the evolution of human progress demanded that women become fully equal citizens of their nation in every respect— politically, economically, and culturally. In the Thick of the Fight makes available for the first time the archive of published and unpublished writings of Emily Wilding Davison. Collette reorients both scholarly and public attention away from a single, defining event to the complexity of Davison’s contributions to modern feminist discourse, giving the reader a sense of the vibrancy and diversity of Davison’s suffrage writings.