词条 | Elizabeth and Agnes Thomson |
释义 |
Early Life and CareerAgnes Colquhoun Thomson was born in 1846 and Elizabeth Thomson in 1848, in Glasgow, Scotland. They moved with their widowed mother Margaret to Hartington Place in Edinburgh.[3] The 1881 Census records the three women as living on "income from interest of money". The sisters subsequently spent 18 years in India "being engaged in mission work", before returning to Edinburgh.[2] Campaign for women's suffrageThe Thomson sisters were active members of the Edinburgh WSPU and were involved in protests in London and Scotland. On 22 November 1911, they were among the 223 protesters arrested at a WSPU demonstration at the House of Commons, to which they had travelled with other women from the Edinburgh branch, including Jessie C. Methven, Edith Hudson, Alice Shipley and Mrs Grieve.[2] The demonstrations followed the "torpedoing" of the Conciliation Bill.[4] They were both sentenced to five days' imprisonment in Holloway prison.[5] Elizabeth served a further term in Holloway in May 1912. Arson campaignIn April 1913 the "elderly sisters", along with fellow Edinburgh WSPU members Arabella Scott and Edith Hudson, travelled to Kelso racecourse and attempted to burn down a stand.[6] The four women were arrested along with Donald McEwan, who had ordered the taxi from Edinburgh, and subsequently tried in Jedburgh Court on 19 May. The jury found the charges against Agnes (then 67) were 'not proven' and recommended leniency for Elizabeth (then 65). Elizabeth was sentenced to three months while the others each received nine-month sentences. They were sent to Calton Jail where the women immediately went on a hunger strike.[1] The Cat and Mouse ActThe Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913, also known as the Cat and Mouse Act, had recently been introduced which allowed prisons to release women whose hunger strike had reached a critical stage. Elizabeth was released under the act on 23 May under licence to return when her health improved. None of the women returned to prison when their licences expired and Leneman records that Elizabeth "vanished" after her release, no longer attending WSPU meetings as police actively sought her there.[7] Agnes continued to be active in the movement, and wrote to the Scottish Prison Service to intercede on Arabella Scott's behalf in August 1913 when she was rearrested under the Cat and Mouse Act at a WSPU protest in London and returned to Calton Jail.[8] See also
References1. ^1 Geddes, JF (2008). "Culpable Complicity: the medical profession and the forcible feeding of suffragettes, 1909–1914". Women's History Review. 17(1):79–94. doi:10.1080/09612020701627977. p82. {{authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Elizabeth}}2. ^1 2 The Suffragist Disturbances. The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 23 November 1911. 3. ^1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census. 4. ^Crawford, Elizabeth (1999). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928. Routledge. 5. ^Leneman, Leah (1995). A Guid Cause. Revised edition. Mercat Press. p272. 6. ^Crawford, Elizabeth (2006). The Women's Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland. Routledge. p237. 7. ^Leneman, Leah (1995). A Guid Cause. Revised edition. Mercat Press. p140-144. 8. ^Leneman, Leah (1995). A Guid Cause. Revised edition. Mercat Press. p155. 8 : 1848 births|Scottish prisoners and detainees|Scottish expatriates in India|1846 births|Sisters|Prisoners and detainees of Scotland|Scottish suffragists|Year of death missing |
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