Teresa Billington-Greig

Teresa Billington, the daughter of a shipping clerk, was born in Blackburn, Lancashire in 1877. Teresa had a stormy relationship with her parents. There was constant conflict concerning her disagreement with her parents' strong Roman Catholic views. Teresa ran away from home as a teenager and for the rest of her life was an outspoken agnostic.

Teresa became a pupil-teacher and eventually found work as a schoolteacher in Manchester. However, Teresa's refused to teach religious instruction and this led to the Manchester Education Committee threatening to sack her. Emmeline Pankhurst, a member of the Manchester Education Committee, was impressed by Teresa Billington's spirit and arranged for her to be transferred to a Jewish school where she would not have to teach religion.

With Emmeline Pankhurst's encouragement, Teresa Billington became a member of the Independent Labour Party in Manchester. In 1904 she was appointed as the organiser of the Independent Labour Party in Manchester. Teresa also became involved in trade union issues. She objected to the fact that men received higher wages than women and became secretary of the Manchester Equal Pay Committee.

Teresa also joined the Women's Social and Political Union and in 1907 she was asked to become a full-time worker for the organisation in London. Within a few months of arriving, Teresa had been arrested and sent to Holloway Prison. That year she also married a Scotsman living in London called Frederick Greig. He was sympathetic to women's rights and agreed to adopt Billington-Greig as their joint name.

Teresa, like other suffrages at the time, questioned the way that Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst were running the WSPU. She objected to the way they made decisions without consulting members. Teresa also felt that a small group of wealthy women were beginning to dominate the organisation and in 1907 she left the WSPU with Charlotte Despard to form the Women's Freedom League.

Teresa Billington-Greig also came into conflict with Margaret Bondfield over the issue of adult suffrage. Billington-Greig argued that women's political organisations should be advocating the "immediate granting of the Parliamentary Franchise to women on the same terms as men in the speediest and most practical way to real democracy". Bondfield took the view that if this happened the Conservatives would gain an advantage over the Labour Party. Bondfield also feared that once middle-class women had the vote, many of the leaders of the WSPU and NUWSS would lose interest in fighting for the political rights of working-class women. In December 1907, a public debate took place between Teresa Billington-Greig and Margaret Bondfield on this issue. Billington-Greig won the vote that followed the debate by 171 to 139.

Teresa Billington-Greig and other members of the Women's Freedom League were often sent to prison after being arrested on demonstrations. However, Billington-Greig and this group completely rejected the increasing violent tactics of the WSPU. In an article that she wrote, Teresa accused Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst of "emotionalism, personal tyranny and fanaticism."

In 1910 Teresa Billington-Greig declared that she intended to "work for women's suffrage independently". This mainly involved her writing books such as The Militant Suffrage Movement (1911), Consumers in Revolt (1912) and Women and the Machine (1913).

After the passing of the Equal Franchise Act in 1928 Teresa Billington-Greig concentrated her efforts on increasing the number of women in the House of Commons and for several years was the director of the Women for Westminster group. Teresa Billington-Greig died in 1964.

Biographical Links

Emmeline Pankhurst
Christabel Pankhurst
Charlotte Despard
Hannah Mitchell
Margaret Bondfield

Sources

2.8
3.4
8.7
8.8
8.9
9.12
11.12
13.7
16.2
16.9
17.7
21.1

Internet Links

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

Further Reading

Teresa Billington-Greig, Selected Writings of Teresa Billington-Greig: The Non-Violent Militant, Routledge (1987)
Teresa Billington-Greig, The Militant Suffrage Movement, Frank Palmer (1911)
Marie Roberts (ed.), The Reformers: Socialist Feminism, Routledge (1995)
Sylvia Pankhurst, The Suffragette Movement, Longmans (1977)
Andrew Rosen, The Militant Campaign of the WSPU, Routledge (1974)

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