1. History

2. The Vote and the Growth in the Women's Freedom League

3. Protests and events

4. Archives

5. See also

6. References

7. External links

The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigned for women's suffrage and sexual equality.

History

The group was founded in 1907 by seventy-seven members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) including Teresa Billington-Greig, Charlotte Despard, Alice Schofield, Edith How-Martyn and Margaret Nevinson. They disagreed with Christabel Pankhurst's announcement that the WSPU's annual conference was cancelled and that future decisions would be taken by a committee which she would appoint.^[1]

The League also opposed violence in favour of non-violent forms of protest such as non-payment of taxes, refusing to complete census forms and organising demonstrations, including members chaining themselves to objects in the Houses of Parliament. It grew to over 4,000 members and published The Vote newspaper weekly from 1909–1933.^[2] Dr Elizabeth Knight was a source of funds for the Women's Freedom League. She took over as treasurer from Constance Tite in 1912 where she improved the financial situation. Before she was appointed the league had suffered from occasions when it had to appeal to its members for loans. Knight introduced new fund raising schemes for the league although finances were also helped by large donations by an "anonymous" person. It is suspected that this person was Knight.^[3][4]

In 1912, Nina Boyle became head of the WFL's political and militant department.^[5] She published many articles in the WFL's newspaper, The Vote. Boyle started a campaign for women to become Special Constables. This campaign coincided with the outbreak of the first world war in 1914 and the call for volunteers for the war effort which Boyle wished to see taken up by women as well as men.^[6] When the request was officially refused, Boyle, together with Margaret Damer Dawson, a wealthy philanthropist and herself a campaigner for women's rights,^[7] established the first voluntary women's police force- the Women Police Volunteers (WPV).

The League continued their pacifism during the First World War, supporting the Women's Peace Council. On the outbreak of war, they had suspended their campaigns and undertook voluntary work

In the 1918 general election, Despard, How-Martyn and Emily Frost Phipps stood unsuccessfully in London constituencies as independent women's rights anti-war candidates. They celebrated the achievement of suffrage and refocussed their activities on equality, including equal pay and equality of morality. The group declined in membership, but continued under the leadership of Marian Reeves to organise annual birthday parties for Despard, and maintain the Minerva Club in Brunswick Square. Following Reeves' death, in 1961, the organisation voted to dissolve.^[8]

The Vote and the Growth in the Women's Freedom League

After the creation of the Women's Freedom League in 1907, it continued to grow rapidly throughout Great Britain. The league consisted of sixty branches and had nearly four thousand members.^[9] The league established its own newspaper called The Vote.^[9] Members of the League were writers, which led to the production of this newspaper. The Vote became the primary means of communication with the public, informing the public of campaigns, protests, and events.^[9] This newspaper also helped spread ideas concerning World War I, allowing for the Women's Freedom League to advocate against the war.^[9] Members of the League refused to become involved in campaigning efforts led by the British Army. Members were upset when their women’s suffrage campaign came to a halt while the war was occurring.^[9]

Protests and events

The League's main objective was to criticize, oppose and reform the government. The League held protests that advocated pacifism during World War I.^[10] Not only did the League oppose the war, but they also used peaceful forms of protest only such as refusing to complete census forms and not paying taxes.^[10] For example, in 1908 and 1909 the members chained themselves to various objects in Parliament in order to protest against the Government.^[10] On 28 October 1908, three members of the Women's Freedom League, Muriel Matters, Violet Tillard, and Helen Fox, released a banner at the House of Commons. The women also chained themselves to the grille above a window.^[11] Law enforcement had to remove the grille while they were still attached until they could file off the locks that held them connected to the window. This protest became known as the Grille Incident.^[11]

Two members of the League, Alice Chapin and Alison Neilans, attacked polling stations during the Bermondsey by-election, 1909, smashing bottles containing corrosive liquid over ballot boxes in an attempt to destroy votes. A presiding officer, George Thornley, was blinded in one eye in one of these attacks, and a Liberal agent suffered a severe burn to the neck. The count was delayed while ballot papers were carefully examined, 83 ballot papers were damaged but legible but two ballot papers became undecipherable.^[12] Later they were sentenced to three months each in Holloway Prison.^[13]

The "Brown Women" were named after the brown coats that the walkers wore. Agnes Brown (coincidentally), Isabel Cowe and four others set off from Edinburgh to walk to London. They had white scarfs and green hats and as they travelled they gathered signatures for a petition for women's rights.^[14] The hikers had to walk fifteen miles and attend a meeting each day and in this way they took five weeks to get to London.^[15]

Archives

The archives of the Women's Freedom League are held at The Women's Library at the Library of the London School of Economics.^[16][17]

See also

• Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
• List of suffragists and suffragettes
• Timeline of women's suffrage
• Women's suffrage organizations
• History of feminism

References

• Spartacus on the Women's Freedom League

External links

• [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=O3NaXMp0MMsC&dat=19130103&b_mode=2 Google News archive of The Vote]
• The Women's Library, which holds extensive suffrage collections

• The 50 Greatest Hits
• The 50 Greatest Love Songs
• The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett
• The 50 Percent Cap
• The 50 Percent Rule
• The 50% Rule
• The 50% Rule (English Faith School Admissions)
• The '50s
• The 50th Annual Academy Awards
• The 52nd Annual Academy Awards
• The 54th Annual Academy Awards
• The 55th Annual Academy Awards
• The 5-8 club
• The $5 Baby
• The 5 Gallants
• The 5 Network
• The 5 Pillars Of Islam
• The 5 Second Rule
• The 5th Element (album)
• The 5th Element (Kellee Maize album)
• The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
• The 5th V Chart Awards
• The 5th Wave
• The 5th Wave (series)
• The 6000-mark war