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Black Friday (1910)

Black Friday was a suffragette demonstration in London on 18 November 1910, in which 300 women marched to the Houses of Parliament as part of their campaign to secure voting rights for women. The day earned its name from the violence meted out to protesters, some of it sexual, by the Metropolitan Police and male bystanders .

The front page of The Daily Mirror, 19 November 1910, showing a suffragette on the ground.

During the January 1910 general election campaign, H. H. Asquith—the Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party—promised to introduce a Conciliation Bill to allow a measure of women's suffrage in national elections. When he was returned to power, a committee made up of pro-women's suffrage MPs from several political parties was formed; they proposed legislation that would have added a million women to the franchise. The suffrage movement supported the legislation. Although MPs backed the bill and passed its first and second readings, Asquith refused to grant it further parliamentary time. On 18 November 1910, following a breakdown in relations between the House of Commons and House of Lords over that year's budget, Asquith called another general election and said that parliament would be dissolved on 28 November.

The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) saw the move as a betrayal and organized a protest march to parliament from Caxton Hall in Westminster. Lines of police and crowds of male bystanders met three hundred female protestors outside the Houses of Parliament; the women were attacked for the next six hours. Many women complained about the sexual nature of the assaults, which included having their breasts twisted and pinched. Police arrested 4 men and 115 women, although the following day all charges were dropped. The conciliation committee were angered by the accounts, and undertook interviews with 135 demonstrators, nearly all of whom described acts of violence against the women; 29 of the statements included details of sexual assault. Calls for a public inquiry were rejected by Winston Churchill, then Home Secretary.

The violence may have caused the subsequent deaths of two suffragettes. The demonstration led to a change in approach: many members of the WSPU were unwilling to risk similar violence, so they resumed their previous forms of direct action—such as stone-throwing and window-breaking—which afforded time to escape. The police also changed their tactics; during future demonstrations they tried not to arrest too soon or too late.

Background

Women's Social and Political Union

 
Banner of the Hammersmith branch of the Women's Social and Political Union

The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was formed in 1903 by the political activist Emmeline Pankhurst. From around 1905—following the failure of a private member's bill to introduce the vote for women—the organisation increasingly began to use militant direct action to campaign for women's suffrage.[1][2][a] According to the historian Caroline Morrell, from 1905 "The basic pattern of WSPU activities over the next few years had been established—pre-planned militant tactics, imprisonment claimed as martyrdom, publicity and increased membership and funds."[4]

From 1906 WSPU members adopted the name suffragettes, to differentiate from the suffragists of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, who employed constitutional methods in their campaign for the vote.[1][5][b] From 1907 WSPU demonstrations faced increasing police violence.[7] Sylvia Pankhurst—the daughter of Emmeline and a member of the WSPU—described a demonstration in which she took part in February that year:

 
Illustration from The Graphic of suffragettes in the Central Lobby of the House of Commons, February 1907

Parliament was guarded by an army of police to prevent the women approaching its sacred precincts. The constables had their orders to drive them away, making as few arrests as possible. Mounted men scattered the marchers; foot police seized them by the back of the neck and rushed them along at arm's length, thumping them in the back, and bumping them with their knees in approved police fashion. ... Those who took refuge in doorways were dragged down the steps and hurled in front of the horses, then pounced upon by constables and beaten again. ... As night advanced the violence grew. Finally fifty-four women and two men had been arrested.[8]

After one demonstration in June 1908 in which "roughs appeared, organised gangs, who treated the women with every type of indignity",[9] Sylvia Pankhurst complained that "the ill-usage by the police and the roughs was greater than we had hitherto experienced".[9] During a demonstration in June 1909 a deputation tried to force a meeting with H. H. Asquith, the Prime Minister; 3,000 police provided tight security to prevent the women from entering parliament, arresting 108 women and 14 men.[10][11] Following the police violence used on that occasion, the WSPU began to shift to a strategy of breaking windows rather than attempting to rush into parliament. Sylvia Pankhurst wrote that "Since we must go to prison to obtain the vote, let it be the windows of the Government, not the bodies of women which shall be broken, was the argument".[12][c]

 
A suffragette being force-fed in Holloway prison, c. 1911

At a demonstration in October 1909—at which the WSPU again attempted to rush into parliament—ten demonstrators were taken to hospital. The suffragettes did not complain about the rising level of police violence. Constance Lytton wrote that "the word went round that we were to conceal as best we might, our various injuries. It was no part of our policy to get the police into trouble."[15] The level of violence in suffragette action increased throughout 1909: bricks were thrown at the windows of Liberal Party meetings; Asquith was attacked while leaving church; and roof tiles were thrown at police when another political rally was interrupted. Public opinion turned against the tactics and, according to Morrell, the government capitalised on the shifting public feeling to introduce stronger measures. Thus, in October 1909, Herbert Gladstone, the Home Secretary, instructed that all prisoners on hunger strike should be force fed.[16]

Political situation

 
Front page of Votes for Women showing a caricature of Asquith offering wider suffrage; the suffragettes were dismissive of the likelihood[17]

The Liberal government elected in 1905 was a reforming one which introduced legislation to combat poverty, deal with unemployment and establish pensions. The Conservative Party-dominated House of Lords impeded much of the legislation.[18][d] In 1909 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, introduced the so-called People's Budget, which had the expressed intent of redistributing wealth amongst the population.[21] This budget was passed by the House of Commons, but rejected by the Lords.[e] As a result, on 3 December 1909, Asquith called a general election for the new year to obtain a fresh mandate for the legislation.[18][22] As part of the campaigning for the January 1910 election, Asquith—a known anti-suffragist—announced that should he be re-elected, he would introduce a Conciliation Bill to introduce a measure of female suffrage. The proposal was dismissed by suffrage campaigners as being unlikely to materialise.[23] The election produced a hung parliament, with the Liberals' majority eliminated; although they won the largest number of seats, they returned only two more MPs than the Conservative Party. Asquith retained power after he was able to form a government with the support of the Irish Parliamentary Party.[24][f]

On 31 January 1910, in response to Asquith's statement, Pankhurst announced that the WSPU would pause all militant activity and focus on constitutional activities only.[26] For six months the suffrage movement went into a propaganda drive, organising marches and meetings, and local councils passed resolutions supporting the bill.[27] When the new Parliament convened, a cross-party conciliation committee of pro-women's suffrage MPs was formed under the chairmanship of Lord Lytton, the brother of Lady Constance Bulwer-Lytton.[28][29][g] They proposed legislation that would have enfranchised female householders and those women that occupied a business premises; the bill was based on existing franchise laws for local government elections, under which some women had been able to vote since 1870.[30][h] The measure would have added approximately a million women to the franchise; it was kept to a relatively small number to make the bill as acceptable as possible to MPs, mostly Conservatives.[33] Although the WSPU thought the scope of the bill too narrow—it excluded women lodgers and most wives and working-class women—they accepted it as an important step.[27][34]

The Conciliation Bill was introduced into Parliament as a private members bill on 14 June 1910.[35][36] The question of women's suffrage was divisive within Cabinet, and the bill was discussed at three separate meetings.[37] At a Cabinet meeting on 23 June, Asquith stated that he would allow it to pass to the second reading stage, but no further parliamentary time would be allocated to it and it would therefore fail.[38] Nearly 200 MPs signed a memorandum to Asquith asking for additional parliamentary time to debate the legislation, but he refused.[39] The bill received its second reading on 11 and 12 July, which it passed 299 to 189. Both Churchill and Lloyd George voted against the measure; Churchill called it "anti-democratic".[35] At the end of the month Parliament was prorogued until November.[40] The WSPU decided to wait until Parliament reconvened before they decided if they were to return to militant action. They further decided that if no additional parliamentary time was given over to the Conciliation Bill, Christabel Pankhurst would lead a delegation to Parliament, demand the bill be made law, and refuse to leave until that was carried out.[35] On 12 November the Liberal Party politician Sir Edward Grey announced that there would be no further parliamentary time given to the conciliation legislation that year. The WSPU announced that in protest they would undertake a militant demonstration to Parliament when it reconvened on 18 November.[41]

18 November

 
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Emmeline Pankhurst at the Houses of Parliament on Black Friday

On 18 November 1910, in an attempt to resolve the parliamentary impasse arising from the House of Lords veto on Commons legislation, Asquith called a general election, and said that parliament would be dissolved on 28 November; all remaining time was to be given over to official government business. He did not refer to the Conciliation Bill.[42] At noon on the same day the WPSU held a rally at Caxton Hall, Westminster. The event had been widely publicised, and the national press were prepared for the expected demonstration later in the day.[43] From Caxton Hall, approximately 300 members—divided into groups of ten to twelve by the WSPU organiser Flora Drummond—marched to parliament to petition Asquith directly.[44][45][i] The deputation was led by Emmeline Pankhurst. The delegates in the lead group included Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson, Hertha Ayrton and Princess Sophia Duleep Singh.[47][j] The first group arrived at St Stephen's entrance at 1:20 pm.[48] They were taken to Asquith's office where his private secretary informed them that the prime minister refused to see them. They were escorted back to St Stephen's entrance, where they were left to watch the demonstration.[49]

Previous demonstrations at the Houses of Parliament had been policed by the local A Division, who understood the nature of the demonstrations and had managed to overcome the WSPU tactics without undue levels of violence.[50] Sylvia Pankhurst wrote that "During our conflicts with the A Division they have gradually come to know us, and to understand our aims and objects, and for this reason, whilst obeying their orders, they came to treat the women, as far as possible, with courtesy and consideration".[51] On the day of the demonstration, police had been drafted in from Whitechapel and the East End; these men were inexperienced in policing suffragettes.[52][53] Sophia van Wingerden, in her history of the women's suffrage movement, writes that "the differing accounts of the event of that day make it difficult to determine the truth about what happened";[54] Morrell similarly observes that the government, the press and the demonstrators all provide markedly different accounts.[55]

 
Rosa May Billinghurst, a disabled suffragette, who was present on Black Friday

Groups approaching Parliament Square were met at the Westminster Abbey entrance to the square by groups of bystanders, who manhandled the women. As they moved past the men, the suffragettes were met by lines of policemen who, instead of arresting them, subjected them to violence and insults, much of which was sexual in nature. The demonstration continued for six hours; police beat women attempting to enter parliament, then threw them into the crowds of onlookers, where they were subjected to further assaults.[56] Many of the suffragettes considered that the crowds of men who also assaulted them were plain clothes policemen.[57] Caxton Hall was used throughout the day as a medical post for suffragettes injured in the demonstration. Sylvia Pankhurst recorded that "We saw the women go out and return exhausted, with black eyes, bleeding noses, bruises, sprains and dislocations. The cry went round: 'Be careful; they are dragging women down the side streets!' We knew this always meant greater ill-usage."[58] One of those taken down a side street was Rosa May Billinghurst, a disabled suffragette who campaigned from a wheelchair. Police pushed her into a side road, assaulted her and stole the valves from the wheels, leaving her stranded.[59] The historian Harold Smith writes "it appeared to witnesses as well as the victims that the police had intentionally attempted to subject the women to sexual humiliation in a public setting to teach them a lesson".[60]

Following days

On 18 November, 4 men and 115 women were arrested.[49][61] The following morning, when those arrested were brought up at Bow Street Police Court, the prosecution stated that Winston Churchill, the Home Secretary, had decided that on the grounds of public policy "on this occasion no public advantage would be gained by proceeding with the prosecution"; all charges were dropped.[62] Katherine E. Kelly, in her examination of how the media reported the suffrage movement in the early 20th century, considers that by dropping the charges against the demonstrators Churchill implemented "a tacit quid pro quo ... [in which] he refused to inquire into the charges of police brutality".[63][64] On 22 November Asquith announced that should the Liberals be returned to power at the next election, there would be parliamentary time for a Conciliation Bill to be put to parliament. The WSPU were angered that his promise was for within the next parliament, rather than the next session, and 200 suffragettes marched on Downing Street, where scuffles broke out with the police; 159 women and 3 men were arrested. The following day another march on parliament was met with a police presence, and 18 demonstrators were arrested. Charges against many of those arrested on 22 and 23 November were subsequently dropped.[65][66]

Reaction

 
Women's Social and Political Union flier publicising the demonstration

On 19 November 1910, newspapers reported on the events of the previous day. According to Morrell they "almost unanimously refrained from any mention of police brutality", and focussed instead on the behaviour of the suffragettes.[67] The front page of The Daily Mirror that day showed a large photograph of a suffragette on the ground, having been hit by a policeman during Black Friday; the image is probably that of Ada Wright.[68][69][k] The art editor of the newspaper forwarded the photograph to the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police for comments. He initially tried to explain the image away by saying the woman had collapsed through exhaustion.[73][74] The image was also published in Votes for Women,[51] The Manchester Guardian[75] and the Daily Express.[76]

Morrell observes that where sympathy was shown by newspapers, it was directed towards the policemen. The Times reported that "Several of the police had their helmets knocked off in carrying out their duty, one was disabled by a kick on the ankle, one was cut on the face by a belt, and one had his hand cut";[77] The Daily Mirror wrote that "the police displayed great good temper and tact throughout and avoided making arrests, but as usual many of the Suffragettes refused to be happy until they were arrested ... in one scuffle a constable got hurt and had to be led limping away by two colleagues."[78] References to the suffragettes were in tones of disapproval for their actions; after Churchill decided not to prosecute the suffragettes, some newspapers criticised his decision.[79]

On 3 March Georgiana Solomon—a suffragette who had been present at the demonstration—wrote to The Times to say that police had assaulted her. She had been bed-ridden after their manhandling, and had not been able to make a complaint at the time. Instead, she had written to Churchill on 17 December with a full statement of what she had suffered, and the actions she had witnessed against others. She had received a formal acknowledgement, but no further letter from the government on the events. Her letter to Churchill had been printed in full in the suffragette newspaper Votes for Women.[80][81][82]

The WSPU leadership were convinced that Churchill had given the police orders to manhandle the women, rather than arrest them quickly. Churchill denied the accusation in the House of Commons and was so angered he considered suing Christabel Pankhurst and The Times, who had reported the claim, for libel.[83][l] The 25 November 1910 edition of Votes for Women stated that "The orders of the Home Secretary were, apparently, that the police were to be present both in uniform and in the crowd and that the women were to be thrown from one to the other".[84] In her biography of Emmeline Pankhurst, June Purvis writes that the police followed Churchill's orders to refrain from making arrests;[85] the historian Andrew Rosen considers that Churchill had not given any orders to the police to manhandle the demonstrators.[86]

Murray and Brailsford report

 
A policeman tries to seize a banner from a suffragette on Black Friday.

When members of the conciliation committee heard the stories of the demonstrators' maltreatment, they demanded a public inquiry, which was rejected by Churchill. The committee's secretary—the journalist Henry Brailsford—and the psychotherapist Jessie Murray collected 135 statements from demonstrators, nearly all of which described acts of violence against the women; 29 of the statements also included details of violence that included indecency.[87][88] The memorandum they published summarised their findings:

The action of which the most frequent complaint is made is variously described as twisting round, pinching, screwing, nipping, or wringing the breast. This was often done in the most public way so as to inflict the utmost humiliation. Not only was it an offence against decency; it caused in many cases intense pain ... The language used by some of the police while performing this action proves that it was consciously sensual.[89]

A woman, who gave her name as Miss H, stated that "One policeman ... put his arm round me and seized my left breast, nipping it and wringing it very painfully, saying as he did so, 'You have been wanting this for a long time, haven't you'";[90] the American suffragette Elisabeth Freeman reported that a policeman grasped her thigh. She stated "I demanded that he should cease doing such a hateful action to a woman. He said, 'Oh, my old dear, I can grip you wherever I like to-day'";[91] and another said "the policeman who tried to move me on did so by pushing his knees in between me from behind, with the deliberate intention of attacking my sex".[92]

On 2 February 1911 the memorandum prepared by Murray and Brailsford was presented to the Home Office, along with a formal request for a public inquiry. Churchill again refused.[93] On 1 March, in response to a question in parliament, he informed the House of Commons that the memorandum:

contains a large number of charges against the police of criminal misconduct, which, if there were any truth in them, should have been made at the time and not after a lapse of three months. ... I have made inquiry of the Commissioner [of Metropolitan Police] with regard to certain general statements included in the memorandum and find them to be devoid of foundation. There is no truth in the statement that the police had instructions which led them to terrorise and maltreat the women. On the contrary, the superintendent in charge impressed upon them that as they would have to deal with women, they must act with restraint and moderation, using no more force than might be necessary, and maintaining under any provocation they might receive, control of temper.[94]

Impact

 
Arrest of a suffragette on Black Friday

The deaths of two suffragettes have been attributed to the treatment they received on Black Friday.[95] Mary Clarke, Emmeline Pankhurst's younger sister, was present at both Black Friday and the demonstration in Downing Street on 22 November. After a month in prison for breaking windows in Downing Street, she was released on 23 December, and died on Christmas Day of a brain haemorrhage at age 48. Emmeline blamed her death on the maltreatment Clarke received at the two November demonstrations;[1][96] Murray and Brailsford wrote that "we have no evidence which directly connects the death of Mrs Clarke" to the demonstrations.[97] The second victim the WSPU claimed had died from maltreatment was Henria Leech Williams.[98] She had given evidence to Brailsford and Murray that "One policeman after knocking me about for a considerable time, finally took hold of me with his great strong hands like iron just over my heart. ... I knew that unless I made a strong effort ... he would kill me".[99] Williams died of a heart attack on 1 January 1911;[100] Murray and Brailsford wrote "there is evidence to show that Miss Henria Williams ... had been used with great brutality, and was aware at the time of the effect upon her heart, which was weak".[97] Her brother Llewellyn later stated that “She knowingly and willingly shortened her days in rendering services to the womanhood of the nation.”[101]

The events that took place between 18 and 25 November had an impact on the WSPU membership, many of whom no longer wanted to take part in the demonstrations. The deputations to parliament were stopped, and direct action, such as stone-throwing and window-breaking, became more common; this allowed women a chance to escape before the police could arrest them.[60][102] The historian Elizabeth Crawford considers the events of Black Friday determined the "image of the relations between the two forces and mark a watershed in the relationship between the militant suffrage movement and the police".[103] Crawford identifies a change in the tactics used by the police after Black Friday. Sir Edward Troup, the under-secretary at the Home Office, wrote to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in January 1911 to say that "I think there can be no doubt that the least embarrassing course will be for the police not to arrest too soon or defer arresting too long", which became the normal procedure adopted.[104]

On 17 November 2010 a vigil called "Remember the Suffragettes" took place on College Green, Parliament Square "in honour of direct action".[105]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ The first such act was in October 1905. Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney interrupted a political rally in Manchester to ask the pro-women's suffrage Liberal Party politician Sir Edward Grey "Will the Liberal government give votes to women?". The two women were arrested for assault and obstruction; on refusing to pay the fines levied against them, they were sent to prison.[3]
  2. ^ Charles E. Hands, the Daily Mail journalist, coined the name suffragettes to belittle members of the WSPU in 1906, but they adopted the label with pride.[5][6]
  3. ^ The women arrested for window breaking began a hunger strike to be treated as First Division prisoners—reserved for political crimes—rather than Second or Third Division, the classifications for common criminals. They were released early, rather than being reclassified. First Division prisoners were those who had committed crimes for political reasons. They had open access to books and writing equipment, did not have to wear prison uniforms and could receive visitors. Prisoners in the Second and Third Divisions were managed under more restrictive prison regulations.[13][14]
  4. ^ According to the historian Bruce Murray, many of the measures introduced by the government were "mangled by amendments or rejected outright" by the House of Lords;[19] in total, ten parliamentary bills sent to them from the Commons were rejected by the Lords, who also amended over 40 per cent of the legislation they received.[20]
  5. ^ The rejection of the budget was a breach of the constitutional convention that the House of Lords were not supposed to interfere in financial bills from the House of Commons.[21]
  6. ^ The Conservative and Liberal Unionists gained 272 seats (up 116 from the previous parliament); the Liberals won 274 seats (down 123); the Irish Parliamentary Party won 71 (down 11) and Labour won 40 (up 11).[25]
  7. ^ The committee was composed of 25 Liberal MPs, 17 Conservative MPs, 6 Irish Nationalist MPs and 6 Labour MPs.[28]
  8. ^ The terms of the Conciliation Bill, officially named "A Bill to Extend the Parliamentary Franchise to Women Occupiers" were that the franchise should be extended to:

    1. Every woman possessed of a household qualification, or of a ten-pound occupation qualification, within the meaning of the Representation of the People Act 1884, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter, and, when registered, to vote for the county or borough in which the qualifying premises are situate.

    2. For the purposes of this Act, a woman shall not be disqualified by marriage for being registered as a voter, provided that a husband and wife shall not both be qualified in respect of the same property.[31]

    £10 in 1910 equates to approximately £1,100 in 2023 pounds, according to calculations based on Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[32]
  9. ^ Sylvia Pankhurst, in her history of the women's militant suffrage movement, puts the number at 450 demonstrators.[46]
  10. ^ Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to openly qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon; Louisa Garrett Anderson, her daughter, was a surgeon; Hertha Ayrton was an engineer and mathematician; Sophia Duleep Singh was a princess of the Punjab whose godmother was Queen Victoria.[47]
  11. ^ Wright was identified by Georgiana Solomon in Votes for Women[70] and Sylvia Pankhurst in her book The Suffragette Movement (1931).[71] The National Archives identify the woman as possibly being Ernestine Mills.[72]
  12. ^ Rosen gives as examples the suffragette newspaper Votes for Women of 25 November 1910, which stated that "The orders of the Home Secretary were, apparently, that the police were to be present both in uniform and in the crowd and that the women were to be thrown from one to the other".[84]

References

  1. ^ a b c Holton 2017.
  2. ^ Crawford 2003, p. 729.
  3. ^ Pankhurst 1959, pp. 49–52.
  4. ^ Morrell 1981, p. 16.
  5. ^ a b "Suffragists or suffragettes", BBC.
  6. ^ Crawford 2003, p. 452.
  7. ^ Morrell 1981, p. 18.
  8. ^ Pankhurst 2013, 5003–5017.
  9. ^ a b Pankhurst 2013, 5591.
  10. ^ van Wingerden 1999, pp. 86–87.
  11. ^ Atkinson 2018, 2709–2722.
  12. ^ Pankhurst 2013, 6011.
  13. ^ Rosen 2013, pp. 120–121.
  14. ^ Morrell 1981, p. 17.
  15. ^ Lytton 1914, p. 50, quoted in Morrell 1981, p. 20
  16. ^ Morrell 1981, p. 21.
  17. ^ Hawksley 2017, p. 162.
  18. ^ a b Watson 1953.
  19. ^ Murray 2009, p. 5.
  20. ^ Searle 2005, p. 409.
  21. ^ a b Murray 2009, p. 6.
  22. ^ Cavendish 2009.
  23. ^ Hawksley 2017, pp. 161–162.
  24. ^ Koss 1985, p. 118.
  25. ^ Rallings & Thrasher 2017, pp. 20 and 21.
  26. ^ Purvis 2018, p. 212.
  27. ^ a b Morrell 1981, p. 22.
  28. ^ a b Atkinson 2018, 3545.
  29. ^ Tomes 2008.
  30. ^ Purvis 2016.
  31. ^ House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 1910 (180), 325, quoted in Hume 2016, pp. 70–71.
  32. ^ Clark 2018.
  33. ^ Hume 2016, p. 71.
  34. ^ Purvis 2003, p. 144.
  35. ^ a b c Morrell 1981, p. 23.
  36. ^ Shackleton 1910, 1202–1207.
  37. ^ Pugh 2000, p. 140.
  38. ^ Purvis 2018, p. 219.
  39. ^ Pankhurst 1959, p. 159.
  40. ^ Atkinson 2018, 3795 and 3881.
  41. ^ Purvis 2018, p. 226.
  42. ^ Robinson 2018, pp. 108–109.
  43. ^ Hawksley 2017, p. 166.
  44. ^ Atkinson 2018, 3985.
  45. ^ Hawksley 2017, p. 164.
  46. ^ Pankhurst 1911, p. 502.
  47. ^ a b Atkinson 2018, 6630.
  48. ^ "Suffrage Raiders", The Times.
  49. ^ a b Morrell 1981, p. 33.
  50. ^ Marlow 2015, 1984.
  51. ^ a b Pankhurst 1910, p. 121.
  52. ^ Robinson 2018, p. 109.
  53. ^ Atkinson 2018, 4227.
  54. ^ van Wingerden 1999, p. 123.
  55. ^ Morrell 1981, p. 32.
  56. ^ Smith 2014, p. 50; Holton 2017; Tickner 1988, p. 121; Kingsley Kent 1990, p. 180.
  57. ^ Hawksley 2017, p. 167.
  58. ^ Pankhurst 2013, 6656.
  59. ^ Trueman 2004.
  60. ^ a b Smith 2014, p. 50.
  61. ^ Hawksley 2017, p. 169.
  62. ^ quoted in van Wingerden 1999, p. 124
  63. ^ Kelly 2004, p. 350.
  64. ^ Atkinson 1988, p. 30.
  65. ^ Purvis 2003, pp. 151–152.
  66. ^ Morrell 1981, pp. 45–46.
  67. ^ Morrell 1981, p. 39.
  68. ^ Hiley 1993, p. 16.
  69. ^ Kelly 2004, p. 327.
  70. ^ Solomon 1911a, p. 3.
  71. ^ Pankhurst 2013, 4098.
  72. ^ "Women's Suffrage", National Archives.
  73. ^ Hiley 1993, pp. 16–17.
  74. ^ Kelly 2004, pp. 328–329.
  75. ^ "Suffragettes at the House of Commons Yesterday", The Manchester Guardian.
  76. ^ "A Spectacle for the Women of England", The Daily Express.
  77. ^ "Suffrage Raiders", The Times, quoted in Morrell 1981, p. 39
  78. ^ "Ninety Suffragettes Arrested", The Daily Mirror, quoted in Morrell 1981, p. 39
  79. ^ Morrell 1981, p. 40.
  80. ^ van Heyningen 2006.
  81. ^ Solomon 1911a, pp. 1–5.
  82. ^ Solomon 1911b, p. 10.
  83. ^ Purvis 2018, p. 241.
  84. ^ a b "The Outlook", Votes for Women, p. 117.
  85. ^ Purvis 2003, p. 150.
  86. ^ Rosen 2013, p. 140.
  87. ^ Robinson 2018, pp. 109–110.
  88. ^ Atkinson 2018, 4451.
  89. ^ Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911, p. 9.
  90. ^ Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911, p. 33, quoted in Purvis 2002, p. 139.
  91. ^ Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911, pp. 28–29, quoted in Robinson 2018, p. 111.
  92. ^ Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911, p. 32, quoted in Mulvey Roberts & Mizuta 1994, p. 5.
  93. ^ Atkinson 2018, p. 112.
  94. ^ Churchill 1911, 367–368.
  95. ^ Robinson 2018, p. 112.
  96. ^ Atkinson 2018, 4168–4325.
  97. ^ a b Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911, p. 6.
  98. ^ hurdler46 (28 November 2014). "Upminster's Tragic Link to Black Friday". Old Upminster. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  99. ^ Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911, p. 30, quoted in Robinson 2018, p. 111.
  100. ^ Robinson 2018, p. 113.
  101. ^ "Insight: A Scots grave leads to fascinating story of a forgotten suffragette". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  102. ^ Atkinson 2018, 4256.
  103. ^ Crawford 2005, p. 491.
  104. ^ Crawford 2005, p. 492.
  105. ^ Gupta 2017, p. 2.

Sources

Books

Journals

  • Cavendish, Richard (November 2009). "The House of Lords Rejects the 1909 People's Budget". History Today. 59 (11). (subscription required)
  • Churchill, Winston, Home Secretary (1 March 1911). "Metropolitan Police and Suffragettes". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. col. 367–368.
  • Crawford, Elizabeth (2005). "Police, Prisons and Prisoners: the View from the Home Office". Women's History Review. 14 (3 & 4): 487–505. doi:10.1080/09612020500200435. S2CID 145395717.
  • Hiley, Nicholas (8 August 1993). "The Candid Camera of the Edwardian Tabloids". History Today. 43 (8): 16–21. (subscription required)
  • Holton, Sandra Stanley (2017). "Women's Social and Political Union (act. 1903–1914)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/95579. Retrieved 20 March 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Kelly, Katherine E. (2004). "Seeing Through Spectacles: The Woman Suffrage Movement and London Newspapers, 1906–13". European Journal of Women's Studies. 11 (3): 327–353. doi:10.1177/1350506804044466. S2CID 143436264.
  • Murray, Bruce (Autumn 2009). "The 'People's Budget' a Century on" (PDF). Journal of Liberal History. Liberal Democrat History Group (64): 4–13.
  • Shackleton, David, MP (14 June 1910). "Parliamentary Franchise (Women)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. col. 1202–1207.
  • Tomes, Jason (2008). "Lytton, Victor Alexander George Robert Bulwer-, second earl of Lytton (1876–1947)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32169. Retrieved 16 April 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Trueman, Hayley (2004). "Billinghurst, (Rosa) May (1875–1953)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63834. Retrieved 16 April 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • van Heyningen, Elizabeth (2006). "Solomon [née Thomson], Georgiana Margaret (1844–1933)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56252. Retrieved 20 March 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Watson, Steven (April 1953). "The Budget and the Lords: The Crisis of 1910–11". History Today. 3 (4). (subscription required)

News articles

  • "Ninety Suffragettes Arrested". The Daily Mirror. 19 November 1910. p. 4.
  • "The Outlook". Votes for Women. 25 November 1910. pp. 117–118. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  • Pankhurst, Sylvia (25 November 1910). "Miss Sylvia Pankhurst's Account". Votes for Women. pp. 120–121. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  • Solomon, Georgiana (1911a). "Black Friday". Votes for Women. pp. 1–5. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  • Solomon, Georgiana (3 March 1911b). "Treatment of the Women's Deputations by the Police". The Times. p. 10.
  • "A Spectacle for the Women of England". The Daily Express. 19 November 1910. p. 1.
  • "Suffrage Raiders". The Times. 19 November 1910. p. 10.
  • "Suffragettes at the House of Commons Yesterday". The Manchester Guardian. 19 November 1910. p. 7.
  • "Suffragists or suffragettes – who won women the vote?". BBC. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.

Websites

  • Clark, Gregory (2018). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  • Purvis, June (3 August 2016). "The Campaign for Women's Suffrage in Britain". Routledge History of Feminism. doi:10.4324/9781138641839-HOF9-1 (inactive 3 January 2023). Retrieved 9 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2023 (link)
  • "Women's Suffrage". National Archives. Retrieved 16 April 2018.

black, friday, 1910, other, events, list, black, fridays, black, friday, suffragette, demonstration, london, november, 1910, which, women, marched, houses, parliament, part, their, campaign, secure, voting, rights, women, earned, name, from, violence, meted, p. For other events see List of Black Fridays Black Friday was a suffragette demonstration in London on 18 November 1910 in which 300 women marched to the Houses of Parliament as part of their campaign to secure voting rights for women The day earned its name from the violence meted out to protesters some of it sexual by the Metropolitan Police and male bystanders The front page of The Daily Mirror 19 November 1910 showing a suffragette on the ground During the January 1910 general election campaign H H Asquith the Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party promised to introduce a Conciliation Bill to allow a measure of women s suffrage in national elections When he was returned to power a committee made up of pro women s suffrage MPs from several political parties was formed they proposed legislation that would have added a million women to the franchise The suffrage movement supported the legislation Although MPs backed the bill and passed its first and second readings Asquith refused to grant it further parliamentary time On 18 November 1910 following a breakdown in relations between the House of Commons and House of Lords over that year s budget Asquith called another general election and said that parliament would be dissolved on 28 November The Women s Social and Political Union WSPU saw the move as a betrayal and organized a protest march to parliament from Caxton Hall in Westminster Lines of police and crowds of male bystanders met three hundred female protestors outside the Houses of Parliament the women were attacked for the next six hours Many women complained about the sexual nature of the assaults which included having their breasts twisted and pinched Police arrested 4 men and 115 women although the following day all charges were dropped The conciliation committee were angered by the accounts and undertook interviews with 135 demonstrators nearly all of whom described acts of violence against the women 29 of the statements included details of sexual assault Calls for a public inquiry were rejected by Winston Churchill then Home Secretary The violence may have caused the subsequent deaths of two suffragettes The demonstration led to a change in approach many members of the WSPU were unwilling to risk similar violence so they resumed their previous forms of direct action such as stone throwing and window breaking which afforded time to escape The police also changed their tactics during future demonstrations they tried not to arrest too soon or too late Contents 1 Background 1 1 Women s Social and Political Union 1 2 Political situation 2 18 November 3 Following days 4 Reaction 4 1 Murray and Brailsford report 5 Impact 6 See also 7 Notes and references 7 1 Notes 7 2 References 7 3 Sources 7 3 1 Books 7 3 2 Journals 7 3 3 News articles 7 3 4 WebsitesBackground EditWomen s Social and Political Union Edit Further information Timeline of women s suffrage and Women s suffrage in the United Kingdom Banner of the Hammersmith branch of the Women s Social and Political Union The Women s Social and Political Union WSPU was formed in 1903 by the political activist Emmeline Pankhurst From around 1905 following the failure of a private member s bill to introduce the vote for women the organisation increasingly began to use militant direct action to campaign for women s suffrage 1 2 a According to the historian Caroline Morrell from 1905 The basic pattern of WSPU activities over the next few years had been established pre planned militant tactics imprisonment claimed as martyrdom publicity and increased membership and funds 4 From 1906 WSPU members adopted the name suffragettes to differentiate from the suffragists of the National Union of Women s Suffrage Societies who employed constitutional methods in their campaign for the vote 1 5 b From 1907 WSPU demonstrations faced increasing police violence 7 Sylvia Pankhurst the daughter of Emmeline and a member of the WSPU described a demonstration in which she took part in February that year Illustration from The Graphic of suffragettes in the Central Lobby of the House of Commons February 1907 Parliament was guarded by an army of police to prevent the women approaching its sacred precincts The constables had their orders to drive them away making as few arrests as possible Mounted men scattered the marchers foot police seized them by the back of the neck and rushed them along at arm s length thumping them in the back and bumping them with their knees in approved police fashion Those who took refuge in doorways were dragged down the steps and hurled in front of the horses then pounced upon by constables and beaten again As night advanced the violence grew Finally fifty four women and two men had been arrested 8 After one demonstration in June 1908 in which roughs appeared organised gangs who treated the women with every type of indignity 9 Sylvia Pankhurst complained that the ill usage by the police and the roughs was greater than we had hitherto experienced 9 During a demonstration in June 1909 a deputation tried to force a meeting with H H Asquith the Prime Minister 3 000 police provided tight security to prevent the women from entering parliament arresting 108 women and 14 men 10 11 Following the police violence used on that occasion the WSPU began to shift to a strategy of breaking windows rather than attempting to rush into parliament Sylvia Pankhurst wrote that Since we must go to prison to obtain the vote let it be the windows of the Government not the bodies of women which shall be broken was the argument 12 c A suffragette being force fed in Holloway prison c 1911 At a demonstration in October 1909 at which the WSPU again attempted to rush into parliament ten demonstrators were taken to hospital The suffragettes did not complain about the rising level of police violence Constance Lytton wrote that the word went round that we were to conceal as best we might our various injuries It was no part of our policy to get the police into trouble 15 The level of violence in suffragette action increased throughout 1909 bricks were thrown at the windows of Liberal Party meetings Asquith was attacked while leaving church and roof tiles were thrown at police when another political rally was interrupted Public opinion turned against the tactics and according to Morrell the government capitalised on the shifting public feeling to introduce stronger measures Thus in October 1909 Herbert Gladstone the Home Secretary instructed that all prisoners on hunger strike should be force fed 16 Political situation Edit Front page of Votes for Women showing a caricature of Asquith offering wider suffrage the suffragettes were dismissive of the likelihood 17 The Liberal government elected in 1905 was a reforming one which introduced legislation to combat poverty deal with unemployment and establish pensions The Conservative Party dominated House of Lords impeded much of the legislation 18 d In 1909 the Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George introduced the so called People s Budget which had the expressed intent of redistributing wealth amongst the population 21 This budget was passed by the House of Commons but rejected by the Lords e As a result on 3 December 1909 Asquith called a general election for the new year to obtain a fresh mandate for the legislation 18 22 As part of the campaigning for the January 1910 election Asquith a known anti suffragist announced that should he be re elected he would introduce a Conciliation Bill to introduce a measure of female suffrage The proposal was dismissed by suffrage campaigners as being unlikely to materialise 23 The election produced a hung parliament with the Liberals majority eliminated although they won the largest number of seats they returned only two more MPs than the Conservative Party Asquith retained power after he was able to form a government with the support of the Irish Parliamentary Party 24 f On 31 January 1910 in response to Asquith s statement Pankhurst announced that the WSPU would pause all militant activity and focus on constitutional activities only 26 For six months the suffrage movement went into a propaganda drive organising marches and meetings and local councils passed resolutions supporting the bill 27 When the new Parliament convened a cross party conciliation committee of pro women s suffrage MPs was formed under the chairmanship of Lord Lytton the brother of Lady Constance Bulwer Lytton 28 29 g They proposed legislation that would have enfranchised female householders and those women that occupied a business premises the bill was based on existing franchise laws for local government elections under which some women had been able to vote since 1870 30 h The measure would have added approximately a million women to the franchise it was kept to a relatively small number to make the bill as acceptable as possible to MPs mostly Conservatives 33 Although the WSPU thought the scope of the bill too narrow it excluded women lodgers and most wives and working class women they accepted it as an important step 27 34 The Conciliation Bill was introduced into Parliament as a private members bill on 14 June 1910 35 36 The question of women s suffrage was divisive within Cabinet and the bill was discussed at three separate meetings 37 At a Cabinet meeting on 23 June Asquith stated that he would allow it to pass to the second reading stage but no further parliamentary time would be allocated to it and it would therefore fail 38 Nearly 200 MPs signed a memorandum to Asquith asking for additional parliamentary time to debate the legislation but he refused 39 The bill received its second reading on 11 and 12 July which it passed 299 to 189 Both Churchill and Lloyd George voted against the measure Churchill called it anti democratic 35 At the end of the month Parliament was prorogued until November 40 The WSPU decided to wait until Parliament reconvened before they decided if they were to return to militant action They further decided that if no additional parliamentary time was given over to the Conciliation Bill Christabel Pankhurst would lead a delegation to Parliament demand the bill be made law and refuse to leave until that was carried out 35 On 12 November the Liberal Party politician Sir Edward Grey announced that there would be no further parliamentary time given to the conciliation legislation that year The WSPU announced that in protest they would undertake a militant demonstration to Parliament when it reconvened on 18 November 41 18 November Edit Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Emmeline Pankhurst at the Houses of Parliament on Black Friday On 18 November 1910 in an attempt to resolve the parliamentary impasse arising from the House of Lords veto on Commons legislation Asquith called a general election and said that parliament would be dissolved on 28 November all remaining time was to be given over to official government business He did not refer to the Conciliation Bill 42 At noon on the same day the WPSU held a rally at Caxton Hall Westminster The event had been widely publicised and the national press were prepared for the expected demonstration later in the day 43 From Caxton Hall approximately 300 members divided into groups of ten to twelve by the WSPU organiser Flora Drummond marched to parliament to petition Asquith directly 44 45 i The deputation was led by Emmeline Pankhurst The delegates in the lead group included Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson Hertha Ayrton and Princess Sophia Duleep Singh 47 j The first group arrived at St Stephen s entrance at 1 20 pm 48 They were taken to Asquith s office where his private secretary informed them that the prime minister refused to see them They were escorted back to St Stephen s entrance where they were left to watch the demonstration 49 Previous demonstrations at the Houses of Parliament had been policed by the local A Division who understood the nature of the demonstrations and had managed to overcome the WSPU tactics without undue levels of violence 50 Sylvia Pankhurst wrote that During our conflicts with the A Division they have gradually come to know us and to understand our aims and objects and for this reason whilst obeying their orders they came to treat the women as far as possible with courtesy and consideration 51 On the day of the demonstration police had been drafted in from Whitechapel and the East End these men were inexperienced in policing suffragettes 52 53 Sophia van Wingerden in her history of the women s suffrage movement writes that the differing accounts of the event of that day make it difficult to determine the truth about what happened 54 Morrell similarly observes that the government the press and the demonstrators all provide markedly different accounts 55 Rosa May Billinghurst a disabled suffragette who was present on Black Friday Groups approaching Parliament Square were met at the Westminster Abbey entrance to the square by groups of bystanders who manhandled the women As they moved past the men the suffragettes were met by lines of policemen who instead of arresting them subjected them to violence and insults much of which was sexual in nature The demonstration continued for six hours police beat women attempting to enter parliament then threw them into the crowds of onlookers where they were subjected to further assaults 56 Many of the suffragettes considered that the crowds of men who also assaulted them were plain clothes policemen 57 Caxton Hall was used throughout the day as a medical post for suffragettes injured in the demonstration Sylvia Pankhurst recorded that We saw the women go out and return exhausted with black eyes bleeding noses bruises sprains and dislocations The cry went round Be careful they are dragging women down the side streets We knew this always meant greater ill usage 58 One of those taken down a side street was Rosa May Billinghurst a disabled suffragette who campaigned from a wheelchair Police pushed her into a side road assaulted her and stole the valves from the wheels leaving her stranded 59 The historian Harold Smith writes it appeared to witnesses as well as the victims that the police had intentionally attempted to subject the women to sexual humiliation in a public setting to teach them a lesson 60 Following days EditOn 18 November 4 men and 115 women were arrested 49 61 The following morning when those arrested were brought up at Bow Street Police Court the prosecution stated that Winston Churchill the Home Secretary had decided that on the grounds of public policy on this occasion no public advantage would be gained by proceeding with the prosecution all charges were dropped 62 Katherine E Kelly in her examination of how the media reported the suffrage movement in the early 20th century considers that by dropping the charges against the demonstrators Churchill implemented a tacit quid pro quo in which he refused to inquire into the charges of police brutality 63 64 On 22 November Asquith announced that should the Liberals be returned to power at the next election there would be parliamentary time for a Conciliation Bill to be put to parliament The WSPU were angered that his promise was for within the next parliament rather than the next session and 200 suffragettes marched on Downing Street where scuffles broke out with the police 159 women and 3 men were arrested The following day another march on parliament was met with a police presence and 18 demonstrators were arrested Charges against many of those arrested on 22 and 23 November were subsequently dropped 65 66 Reaction Edit Women s Social and Political Union flier publicising the demonstration On 19 November 1910 newspapers reported on the events of the previous day According to Morrell they almost unanimously refrained from any mention of police brutality and focussed instead on the behaviour of the suffragettes 67 The front page of The Daily Mirror that day showed a large photograph of a suffragette on the ground having been hit by a policeman during Black Friday the image is probably that of Ada Wright 68 69 k The art editor of the newspaper forwarded the photograph to the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police for comments He initially tried to explain the image away by saying the woman had collapsed through exhaustion 73 74 The image was also published in Votes for Women 51 The Manchester Guardian 75 and the Daily Express 76 Morrell observes that where sympathy was shown by newspapers it was directed towards the policemen The Times reported that Several of the police had their helmets knocked off in carrying out their duty one was disabled by a kick on the ankle one was cut on the face by a belt and one had his hand cut 77 The Daily Mirror wrote that the police displayed great good temper and tact throughout and avoided making arrests but as usual many of the Suffragettes refused to be happy until they were arrested in one scuffle a constable got hurt and had to be led limping away by two colleagues 78 References to the suffragettes were in tones of disapproval for their actions after Churchill decided not to prosecute the suffragettes some newspapers criticised his decision 79 On 3 March Georgiana Solomon a suffragette who had been present at the demonstration wrote to The Times to say that police had assaulted her She had been bed ridden after their manhandling and had not been able to make a complaint at the time Instead she had written to Churchill on 17 December with a full statement of what she had suffered and the actions she had witnessed against others She had received a formal acknowledgement but no further letter from the government on the events Her letter to Churchill had been printed in full in the suffragette newspaper Votes for Women 80 81 82 The WSPU leadership were convinced that Churchill had given the police orders to manhandle the women rather than arrest them quickly Churchill denied the accusation in the House of Commons and was so angered he considered suing Christabel Pankhurst and The Times who had reported the claim for libel 83 l The 25 November 1910 edition of Votes for Women stated that The orders of the Home Secretary were apparently that the police were to be present both in uniform and in the crowd and that the women were to be thrown from one to the other 84 In her biography of Emmeline Pankhurst June Purvis writes that the police followed Churchill s orders to refrain from making arrests 85 the historian Andrew Rosen considers that Churchill had not given any orders to the police to manhandle the demonstrators 86 Murray and Brailsford report Edit A policeman tries to seize a banner from a suffragette on Black Friday When members of the conciliation committee heard the stories of the demonstrators maltreatment they demanded a public inquiry which was rejected by Churchill The committee s secretary the journalist Henry Brailsford and the psychotherapist Jessie Murray collected 135 statements from demonstrators nearly all of which described acts of violence against the women 29 of the statements also included details of violence that included indecency 87 88 The memorandum they published summarised their findings The action of which the most frequent complaint is made is variously described as twisting round pinching screwing nipping or wringing the breast This was often done in the most public way so as to inflict the utmost humiliation Not only was it an offence against decency it caused in many cases intense pain The language used by some of the police while performing this action proves that it was consciously sensual 89 A woman who gave her name as Miss H stated that One policeman put his arm round me and seized my left breast nipping it and wringing it very painfully saying as he did so You have been wanting this for a long time haven t you 90 the American suffragette Elisabeth Freeman reported that a policeman grasped her thigh She stated I demanded that he should cease doing such a hateful action to a woman He said Oh my old dear I can grip you wherever I like to day 91 and another said the policeman who tried to move me on did so by pushing his knees in between me from behind with the deliberate intention of attacking my sex 92 On 2 February 1911 the memorandum prepared by Murray and Brailsford was presented to the Home Office along with a formal request for a public inquiry Churchill again refused 93 On 1 March in response to a question in parliament he informed the House of Commons that the memorandum contains a large number of charges against the police of criminal misconduct which if there were any truth in them should have been made at the time and not after a lapse of three months I have made inquiry of the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police with regard to certain general statements included in the memorandum and find them to be devoid of foundation There is no truth in the statement that the police had instructions which led them to terrorise and maltreat the women On the contrary the superintendent in charge impressed upon them that as they would have to deal with women they must act with restraint and moderation using no more force than might be necessary and maintaining under any provocation they might receive control of temper 94 Impact Edit Arrest of a suffragette on Black Friday The deaths of two suffragettes have been attributed to the treatment they received on Black Friday 95 Mary Clarke Emmeline Pankhurst s younger sister was present at both Black Friday and the demonstration in Downing Street on 22 November After a month in prison for breaking windows in Downing Street she was released on 23 December and died on Christmas Day of a brain haemorrhage at age 48 Emmeline blamed her death on the maltreatment Clarke received at the two November demonstrations 1 96 Murray and Brailsford wrote that we have no evidence which directly connects the death of Mrs Clarke to the demonstrations 97 The second victim the WSPU claimed had died from maltreatment was Henria Leech Williams 98 She had given evidence to Brailsford and Murray that One policeman after knocking me about for a considerable time finally took hold of me with his great strong hands like iron just over my heart I knew that unless I made a strong effort he would kill me 99 Williams died of a heart attack on 1 January 1911 100 Murray and Brailsford wrote there is evidence to show that Miss Henria Williams had been used with great brutality and was aware at the time of the effect upon her heart which was weak 97 Her brother Llewellyn later stated that She knowingly and willingly shortened her days in rendering services to the womanhood of the nation 101 The events that took place between 18 and 25 November had an impact on the WSPU membership many of whom no longer wanted to take part in the demonstrations The deputations to parliament were stopped and direct action such as stone throwing and window breaking became more common this allowed women a chance to escape before the police could arrest them 60 102 The historian Elizabeth Crawford considers the events of Black Friday determined the image of the relations between the two forces and mark a watershed in the relationship between the militant suffrage movement and the police 103 Crawford identifies a change in the tactics used by the police after Black Friday Sir Edward Troup the under secretary at the Home Office wrote to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in January 1911 to say that I think there can be no doubt that the least embarrassing course will be for the police not to arrest too soon or defer arresting too long which became the normal procedure adopted 104 On 17 November 2010 a vigil called Remember the Suffragettes took place on College Green Parliament Square in honour of direct action 105 See also EditSuffragette bombing and arson campaignNotes and references EditNotes Edit The first such act was in October 1905 Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney interrupted a political rally in Manchester to ask the pro women s suffrage Liberal Party politician Sir Edward Grey Will the Liberal government give votes to women The two women were arrested for assault and obstruction on refusing to pay the fines levied against them they were sent to prison 3 Charles E Hands the Daily Mail journalist coined the name suffragettes to belittle members of the WSPU in 1906 but they adopted the label with pride 5 6 The women arrested for window breaking began a hunger strike to be treated as First Division prisoners reserved for political crimes rather than Second or Third Division the classifications for common criminals They were released early rather than being reclassified First Division prisoners were those who had committed crimes for political reasons They had open access to books and writing equipment did not have to wear prison uniforms and could receive visitors Prisoners in the Second and Third Divisions were managed under more restrictive prison regulations 13 14 According to the historian Bruce Murray many of the measures introduced by the government were mangled by amendments or rejected outright by the House of Lords 19 in total ten parliamentary bills sent to them from the Commons were rejected by the Lords who also amended over 40 per cent of the legislation they received 20 The rejection of the budget was a breach of the constitutional convention that the House of Lords were not supposed to interfere in financial bills from the House of Commons 21 The Conservative and Liberal Unionists gained 272 seats up 116 from the previous parliament the Liberals won 274 seats down 123 the Irish Parliamentary Party won 71 down 11 and Labour won 40 up 11 25 The committee was composed of 25 Liberal MPs 17 Conservative MPs 6 Irish Nationalist MPs and 6 Labour MPs 28 The terms of the Conciliation Bill officially named A Bill to Extend the Parliamentary Franchise to Women Occupiers were that the franchise should be extended to Every woman possessed of a household qualification or of a ten pound occupation qualification within the meaning of the Representation of the People Act 1884 shall be entitled to be registered as a voter and when registered to vote for the county or borough in which the qualifying premises are situate For the purposes of this Act a woman shall not be disqualified by marriage for being registered as a voter provided that a husband and wife shall not both be qualified in respect of the same property 31 10 in 1910 equates to approximately 1 100 in 2023 pounds according to calculations based on Consumer Price Index measure of inflation 32 Sylvia Pankhurst in her history of the women s militant suffrage movement puts the number at 450 demonstrators 46 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to openly qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon Louisa Garrett Anderson her daughter was a surgeon Hertha Ayrton was an engineer and mathematician Sophia Duleep Singh was a princess of the Punjab whose godmother was Queen Victoria 47 Wright was identified by Georgiana Solomon in Votes for Women 70 and Sylvia Pankhurst in her book The Suffragette Movement 1931 71 The National Archives identify the woman as possibly being Ernestine Mills 72 Rosen gives as examples the suffragette newspaper Votes for Women of 25 November 1910 which stated that The orders of the Home Secretary were apparently that the police were to be present both in uniform and in the crowd and that the women were to be thrown from one to the other 84 References Edit a b c Holton 2017 Crawford 2003 p 729 Pankhurst 1959 pp 49 52 Morrell 1981 p 16 a b Suffragists or suffragettes BBC Crawford 2003 p 452 Morrell 1981 p 18 Pankhurst 2013 5003 5017 a b Pankhurst 2013 5591 van Wingerden 1999 pp 86 87 Atkinson 2018 2709 2722 Pankhurst 2013 6011 Rosen 2013 pp 120 121 Morrell 1981 p 17 Lytton 1914 p 50 quoted in Morrell 1981 p 20 Morrell 1981 p 21 Hawksley 2017 p 162 a b Watson 1953 Murray 2009 p 5 Searle 2005 p 409 a b Murray 2009 p 6 Cavendish 2009 Hawksley 2017 pp 161 162 Koss 1985 p 118 Rallings amp Thrasher 2017 pp 20 and 21 Purvis 2018 p 212 a b Morrell 1981 p 22 a b Atkinson 2018 3545 Tomes 2008 Purvis 2016 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers 1910 180 325 quoted in Hume 2016 pp 70 71 Clark 2018 Hume 2016 p 71 Purvis 2003 p 144 a b c Morrell 1981 p 23 Shackleton 1910 1202 1207 Pugh 2000 p 140 Purvis 2018 p 219 Pankhurst 1959 p 159 Atkinson 2018 3795 and 3881 Purvis 2018 p 226 Robinson 2018 pp 108 109 Hawksley 2017 p 166 Atkinson 2018 3985 Hawksley 2017 p 164 Pankhurst 1911 p 502 a b Atkinson 2018 6630 Suffrage Raiders The Times a b Morrell 1981 p 33 Marlow 2015 1984 a b Pankhurst 1910 p 121 Robinson 2018 p 109 Atkinson 2018 4227 van Wingerden 1999 p 123 Morrell 1981 p 32 Smith 2014 p 50 Holton 2017 Tickner 1988 p 121 Kingsley Kent 1990 p 180 Hawksley 2017 p 167 Pankhurst 2013 6656 Trueman 2004 a b Smith 2014 p 50 Hawksley 2017 p 169 quoted in van Wingerden 1999 p 124 Kelly 2004 p 350 Atkinson 1988 p 30 Purvis 2003 pp 151 152 Morrell 1981 pp 45 46 Morrell 1981 p 39 Hiley 1993 p 16 Kelly 2004 p 327 Solomon 1911a p 3 Pankhurst 2013 4098 Women s Suffrage National Archives Hiley 1993 pp 16 17 Kelly 2004 pp 328 329 Suffragettes at the House of Commons Yesterday The Manchester Guardian A Spectacle for the Women of England The Daily Express Suffrage Raiders The Times quoted in Morrell 1981 p 39 Ninety Suffragettes Arrested The Daily Mirror quoted in Morrell 1981 p 39 Morrell 1981 p 40 van Heyningen 2006 Solomon 1911a pp 1 5 Solomon 1911b p 10 Purvis 2018 p 241 a b The Outlook Votes for Women p 117 Purvis 2003 p 150 Rosen 2013 p 140 Robinson 2018 pp 109 110 Atkinson 2018 4451 Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911 p 9 Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911 p 33 quoted in Purvis 2002 p 139 Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911 pp 28 29 quoted in Robinson 2018 p 111 Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911 p 32 quoted in Mulvey Roberts amp Mizuta 1994 p 5 Atkinson 2018 p 112 Churchill 1911 367 368 Robinson 2018 p 112 Atkinson 2018 4168 4325 a b Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911 p 6 hurdler46 28 November 2014 Upminster s Tragic Link to Black Friday Old Upminster Retrieved 30 August 2020 Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911 p 30 quoted in Robinson 2018 p 111 Robinson 2018 p 113 Insight A Scots grave leads to fascinating story of a forgotten suffragette www scotsman com Retrieved 30 August 2020 Atkinson 2018 4256 Crawford 2005 p 491 Crawford 2005 p 492 Gupta 2017 p 2 Sources Edit Books Edit Atkinson Diane 2018 Rise Up Women The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes Kindle ed London Bloomsbury ISBN 978 1 4088 4406 9 Atkinson Diane 1988 Votes for Women Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 5213 1044 4 Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage 1911 The Treatment of the Women s Deputations of November 18th 22nd and 23rd 1910 by the Police London Conciliation Committee for Woman Suffrage OCLC 559672609 Crawford Elizabeth 2003 The Women s Suffrage Movement A Reference Guide 1866 1928 London UCL Press ISBN 978 1 135 43402 1 Gupta Kat 2017 Representation of the British Suffrage Movement London Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 978 1 350 03666 6 Hawksley Lucinda 2017 March Women March London Andre Deutsch ISBN 978 0 233 00525 6 Hume Leslie 2016 1982 The National Union of Women s Suffrage Societies 1897 1914 Abingdon Oxfordshire Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 21327 7 Kingsley Kent Susan 1990 Sex and Suffrage in Britain 1860 1914 London Routledge ISBN 978 0 4150 5520 8 Koss Stephen 1985 Asquith London Hamish Hamilton ISBN 978 0 231 06155 1 Lytton Constance 1914 Prisons amp Prisoners Some Personal Experiences London Heinemann OCLC 444703386 Marlow Joyce ed 2015 Suffragettes The Fight for Votes for Women Kindle ed London Little Brown Book Group ISBN 978 0 349 00775 5 Morrell Caroline 1981 Black Friday Violence Against Women in the Suffragette Movement London Women s Research and Resources Centre ISBN 978 0 905969 08 4 Mulvey Roberts Marie Mizuta Tamae eds 1994 The Militants Suffragette Activism London Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 10352 7 Pankhurst Christabel 1959 Pethick Lawrence Frederick ed The Story of How we Won the Vote London Hutchinson OCLC 562868150 Pankhurst Sylvia 1911 The Suffragette The History of the Women s Militant Suffrage Movement New York Sturgis amp Walton Company OCLC 66118841 Pankhurst Sylvia 2013 1931 The Suffragette Movement An Intimate Account of Persons and Ideals Kindle ed London Wharton Press OCLC 1027059219 Pugh Martin 2000 The March of the Women A Revisionist Analysis of the Campaign for Women s Suffrage 1866 1914 Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 820775 7 Purvis June 2002 Deeds not Words Daily Life in the Women s Social and Political Union in Edwardian Britain In Purvis June Holton Sandra eds Votes For Women Abingdon Oxfordshire Routledge ISBN 978 1 134 61065 5 Purvis June 2003 Emmeline Pankhurst A Biography Abingdon Oxfordshire Routledge ISBN 978 0 4153 2593 6 Purvis June 2018 Christabel Pankhurst A Biography Abingdon Oxfordshire Routledge ISBN 978 0 8153 7149 6 Rallings Colin Thrasher Michael eds 2017 British Electoral Facts 1832 1999 Second ed Abingdon Oxfordshire Routledge ISBN 978 1 1387 3792 1 Robinson Jane 2018 Hearts and Minds The Untold Story of the Great Pilgrimage and How Women Won the Vote London Transworld ISBN 978 1 4735 4086 6 Rosen Andrew 2013 Rise Up Women The Militant Campaign of the Women s Social and Political Union 1903 1914 London Routledge ISBN 978 1 136 24754 5 Searle G R 2005 A New England Peace and War 1886 1918 Oxford Clarendon Press ISBN 978 0 19 254398 1 Smith Harold L 2014 The British Women s Suffrage Campaign 1866 1928 2nd ed London Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 86225 3 Tickner Lisa 1988 The Spectacle of Women Chicago Illinois University of Chicago Press ISBN 978 0 2268 0245 9 van Wingerden Sophia A 1999 The Women s Suffrage Movement in Britain 1866 1928 Basingstoke Hants Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978 0 312 21853 9 Journals Edit Cavendish Richard November 2009 The House of Lords Rejects the 1909 People s Budget History Today 59 11 subscription required Churchill Winston Home Secretary 1 March 1911 Metropolitan Police and Suffragettes Parliamentary Debates Hansard House of Commons col 367 368 Crawford Elizabeth 2005 Police Prisons and Prisoners the View from the Home Office Women s History Review 14 3 amp 4 487 505 doi 10 1080 09612020500200435 S2CID 145395717 Hiley Nicholas 8 August 1993 The Candid Camera of the Edwardian Tabloids History Today 43 8 16 21 subscription required Holton Sandra Stanley 2017 Women s Social and Political Union act 1903 1914 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 95579 Retrieved 20 March 2018 Subscription or UK public library membership required Kelly Katherine E 2004 Seeing Through Spectacles The Woman Suffrage Movement and London Newspapers 1906 13 European Journal of Women s Studies 11 3 327 353 doi 10 1177 1350506804044466 S2CID 143436264 Murray Bruce Autumn 2009 The People s Budget a Century on PDF Journal of Liberal History Liberal Democrat History Group 64 4 13 Shackleton David MP 14 June 1910 Parliamentary Franchise Women Parliamentary Debates Hansard House of Commons col 1202 1207 Tomes Jason 2008 Lytton Victor Alexander George Robert Bulwer second earl of Lytton 1876 1947 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 32169 Retrieved 16 April 2018 Subscription or UK public library membership required Trueman Hayley 2004 Billinghurst Rosa May 1875 1953 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 63834 Retrieved 16 April 2018 Subscription or UK public library membership required van Heyningen Elizabeth 2006 Solomon nee Thomson Georgiana Margaret 1844 1933 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 56252 Retrieved 20 March 2018 Subscription or UK public library membership required Watson Steven April 1953 The Budget and the Lords The Crisis of 1910 11 History Today 3 4 subscription required News articles Edit Ninety Suffragettes Arrested The Daily Mirror 19 November 1910 p 4 The Outlook Votes for Women 25 November 1910 pp 117 118 Retrieved 13 April 2018 Pankhurst Sylvia 25 November 1910 Miss Sylvia Pankhurst s Account Votes for Women pp 120 121 Retrieved 13 April 2018 Solomon Georgiana 1911a Black Friday Votes for Women pp 1 5 Retrieved 25 March 2018 Solomon Georgiana 3 March 1911b Treatment of the Women s Deputations by the Police The Times p 10 A Spectacle for the Women of England The Daily Express 19 November 1910 p 1 Suffrage Raiders The Times 19 November 1910 p 10 Suffragettes at the House of Commons Yesterday The Manchester Guardian 19 November 1910 p 7 Suffragists or suffragettes who won women the vote BBC 6 February 2018 Retrieved 20 March 2018 Websites Edit Clark Gregory 2018 The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain 1209 to Present New Series MeasuringWorth Retrieved 30 January 2018 Purvis June 3 August 2016 The Campaign for Women s Suffrage in Britain Routledge History of Feminism doi 10 4324 9781138641839 HOF9 1 inactive 3 January 2023 Retrieved 9 April 2018 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint DOI inactive as of January 2023 link Women s Suffrage National Archives Retrieved 16 April 2018 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Black Friday 1910 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Black Friday 1910 amp oldid 1135284313, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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