Biographies

Emmeline Pethick

Emmeline Pethick, the daughter of a businessman in Bristol, was born in 1867. The second of thirteen children, she was sent away to boarding school at the age of eight. A rebellious child, she was constantly in trouble with her teachers. After being transferred to a Quaker school she was accused of being "a corrupting influence on other children".

In 1891 Emmeline became a voluntary social worker at the West London Methodist Mission. Emmeline helped organise a club for young working-class girls. Emmeline was shocked by the poverty she encountered and it was during this time she was converted to socialism. Emmeline believed it was important to give these girls a practical example of socialism in action. In 1895 Emmeline formed the Esperance Club. This involved helping a group of young women establish a co-operative dressmaking business.

In 1899 Emmeline met the wealthy lawyer, Frederick Lawrence. The couple fell in love but Emmeline refused to marry Frederick because he did not share her socialist beliefs. It was not until 1901, when Frederick had been converted to socialism, that Emmeline agreed to marry him. Frederick agreed to adopt Pethick-Lawrence as their joint name.

For the next four years Emmeline spent her time helping the Labour Party and developing her ideas with the Esperance Club. However, when Emmeline read about the arrest and imprisonment of Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney in October 1905, she decided to take an interest in the suffrage movement. The following year she met Annie Kenney and after a long discussion with her she decided to join the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).

A few months after joining the WSPU Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence was arrested while trying to make a speech in the lobby of the House of Commons. Emmeline was sent to prison, the first of six terms of imprisonment that she served for her WSPU activities.

Frederick Pethick-Lawrence also became involved in the struggle for the franchise. In 1907 Frederick and Emmeline started the journal Votes for Women. The Pethick-Lawrence's large home in London also became the office of the WSPU. It was also used as a kind of hospital where women made ill by their prison experiences could recover their strength before embarking on further militant acts.

In 1912 the WSPU organised a new campaign that involved the large-scale smashing of shop-windows. Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence had disagreed with this strategy but Christabel Pankhurst ignored her objections. As soon as this wholesale smashing of shop windows began, the government ordered the arrest of the leaders of the WSPU. Christabel Pankhurst escaped to France but Frederick and Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence were arrested, tried and sentenced to nine months imprisonment. They were also successfully sued for the cost of the damage caused by the WSPU.

After Emmeline and Frederick were released from prison they began to speak openly about the possibility that this window-smashing campaign would lose support for the WSPU. At a meeting in France, Christabel told Emmeline and Frederick about the proposed arson campaign. When Emmeline and Frederick objected, Christabel arranged for them to be expelled from the WSPU.

Emmeline continued to work for the suffrage cause and spent most of her energies after 1912 writing for her journal, Votes for Women. During the First World War Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence was a prominent member of the Women's International League for Peace. After the passing of the Qualification of Women Act in 1918 Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence was one of the sixteen unsuccessful women candidates that stood in the post-war election.

In the 1920s and 1930s Emmeline worked for the Women's International League, an organisation committed to world peace. Emmeline also became involved in Marie Stopes' campaign to provide birth-control information to working class women.

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence remained active in politics until 1950 when she had a serious accident that left her immoblised. Frederick looked after Emmeline until she died of a heart attack in 1954.

Biographical Links

Christabel Pankhurst
Annie Kenney
Cicely Corbett Fisher
Marie Stopes

Source Database

1.3
1.8
2.7
5.12
10.10
10.13
16.8
17.10
19.5
21.1
21.3
21.4
21.5

Internet Links

London Museum: WSPU Collection
http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/archive/other/
museums/uk.html

Further Reading

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, My Part in the Changing World, Gollancz (1938)
Vera Brittain, Pethick-Lawrence: A Portrait, Allen & Unwin (1963)
Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, Fate Has Been Kind, Gollancz (1943)
Marie Roberts (ed.), The Reformers: Socialist Feminists, Routledge (1995)
Marie Roberts (ed.), The Suffragettes, Routledge (1995)

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