Votes for Women
Millicent Fawcett formed the National Union of Women's Suffrage Society (NUWSS) in 1897 to unite most of the existing suffrage societies, their aims were to extend women's political rights. Tactics were mostly peaceful persuasion and constitutional to expand the rights of women and to improve social conditions. They welcomed male members to educate them about women's suffrage. The suffragists compiled petitions, met politicians, in elections they supported candidates who were in favour of votes for women and trained women to speak at public meetings.
Emmeline Pankhurst on October 10th 1903 was frustrated by the lack of progress achieved by the NUWSS so formed their own group the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Their tactics were militant, used violent confrontations often illegal and involved public disorder. Their aims were to achieve the same political rights for women as there was for men. Their methods were 'Deeds not Words!' in 1905 Chistabel Pankhurst was sent to prison for spitting and hitting a policeman at a liberal meeting. Mainly they heckled speakers at liberal meetings using megaphones.
However, at the beginning the two groups worked together as a united front but the violent methods of the WSPU led Mrs Fawcett to withdraw her support for the group as she felt this went against the cause.
Emmeline Pankhurst Visits Hull
Emmeline Pankhurst visited Hull to try and start a suffragette group in the city. The local newspapers in Hull reported the events of Emmeline Pankhurst visit. The Hull Daily Mail on Wednesday, 6th November 1907 reported that Mrs Pankhurst is well known for the prominent part she played in the women's suffragette movement in London, Manchester and other counties, who ran the gauntlet of a good deal of heckling at the end of her first speech in West Hull. The meeting was held last evening at 7.30pm, near the fishermen's memorial on Hessle road, South Boulevard, Hull.
Several hundred people turned up mostly working men who did not approve or disapprove but were listening out of curiosity. Mrs Pankhurst talked for over an hour; she spoke clearly and explained her mission to Hull to get the government candidate to pledge the question giving women the vote. She had a clear and easy way of speaking and she wore a dark full length jacket and dark hat.
Her main arguments were to show the position of working women, the wages they received and their conditions of their labour. Since working men were given the vote their wages had gone up, but women in the same industry got 50% less than twenty years ago. Women wanted the vote to get bad laws repealed and good laws passed and to be of assistance in helping men and women to better their social and industrial conditions, women paid taxes and rates but could not vote.
Although the suffragists were prominent in Hull for a long time, a number of suffragettes in Hull chained themselves to railings and participated in more militant campaigns. The suffragists played a huge part in Hull, setting up meeting and discussions with local politicians. When women got the vote it all happened so quietly that it almost went unnoticed after the long struggle, the event itself crept on to the statute book with scarcely a whimper. But suddenly in February 1918 the British electoral roll went up by 8,000,000 to nearly 16,000,000 and women had got the vote at last! With the help of the women of Hull.
