Suffragette Timeline (Oxford Secondary History)

1897 The need to persuade people that women deserved the vote became organised. By this time women were able to vote in local elections and school board elections. However, for real change, women would need to be able to vote at a national level. Millicent Fawcett, the wife of the Liberal MP Henry Fawcett, brought all the groups campaigning for women’s suffrage together to form the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Photo of Millicent Fawcett by Stereoscopic Co. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

1903 A member of the Manchester branch of the NUWSS, Emmeline Pankhurst, decided that it was time to take more direct action in the campaign to gain votes for women. Mrs Pankhurst and her two daughters, Sylvia and Christabel, formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Their motto was ‘deeds not words’. Photo of Emmeline Pankhurst by Matzene, Chicago Restored by Adam Cuerden Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1907 By now, the WSPU had many members who engaged in the militant tactics promoted by the Pankhursts and other leaders. However, there were many who wanted change but did not believe in violent methods. They were mostly pacifists. Subsequently, these women broke away and created the Women’s Freedom League (WFL).

1912 Many of the suffragettes’ tactics involved heckling Members of Parliament during speeches and standing outside the House of Commons holding demonstrations. In 1912, they started a stone-throwing campaign. Hundreds of windows were smashed and over 200 suffragettes were arrested. The suffragettes also took their actions further, making arson attacks and blowing up buildings.

April 1913 Due to the dangers of force-feeding, the government passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act. This allowed the government to release the women who were in prison when they became too weak from starvation. Once they had been rehabilitated and were healthy enough to return to prison, they would be re-arrested. The act thus became known as the ‘Cat and Mouse Act’. Cat and Mouse Act Poster by Women's Social and Political Union...NOR. (Museum of London) Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons June 1913 At the Derby horse race at Epsom, Emily Wilding Davison deliberately walked onto the racecourse as the horses approached and as a result, she died of her wounds in hospital. It was thought she might have been trying to stick a suffragette rosette on the horse, but she was trampled. Over 20,000 people attended her funeral and she became the first martyr of the suffrage movement. The cover of The Suffragette magazine, 13 June 1913, by the Suffragette newspaper [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons June 1913 After the government failed to pass an act to extend the vote to women in 1912, the NUWSS started a pilgrimage from Carlisle to London. Thousands of people joined the march in support!

1914 When the war broke out, the NUWSS and WSPU united to support the war effort. The suffragettes stopped their militant and violent campaign, and as a result of the work they did they earned themselves the nickname of ‘Angel of the Factory’. It is widely accepted by historians that women’s war work helped them get the vote.

1918 The Representation of the People Act was passed. This gave all men over the age of 21 the vote, and some women over the age of 21, if they owned property, otherwise they had to be over 30.

1928 Some women continued to campaign until, in 1928, women were given the vote on equal terms with men.

1903 A member of the Manchester branch of the NUWSS, Emmeline Pankhurst, decided that it was time to take more direct action in the campaign to gain votes for women. Mrs Pankhurst and her two daughters, Sylvia and Christabel, formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Their motto was ‘deeds not words’. Photo of Emmeline Pankhurst by Matzene, Chicago Restored by Adam Cuerden Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1914 When the war broke out, the NUWSS and WSPU united to support the war effort. The suffragettes stopped their militant and violent campaign, and as a result of the work they did they earned themselves the nickname of ‘Angel of the Factory’. It is widely accepted by historians that women’s war work helped them get the vote.

1918 The Representation of the People Act was passed. This gave all men over the age of 21 the vote, and some women over the age of 21, if they owned property, otherwise they had to be over 30.

1928 Some women continued to campaign until, in 1928, women were given the vote on equal terms with men.

1907 By now, the WSPU had many members who engaged in the militant tactics promoted by the Pankhursts and other leaders. However, there were many who wanted change but did not believe in violent methods. They were mostly pacifists. Subsequently, these women broke away and created the Women’s Freedom League (WFL).

1897 The need to persuade men that women deserved the vote became organised. By this time women were able to vote in local elections and school board elections. However, for real change, women would need to be able to vote at a national level. Millicent Fawcett, the wife of the Liberal MP Henry Fawcett, brought all the groups campaigning for women’s suffrage together to form the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Photo of Millicent Fawcett by Stereoscopic Co. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

April 1913 Due to the dangers of force-feeding, the government passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act. This allowed the government to release the women who were in prison when they became too weak from starvation. Once they had been rehabilitated and were healthy enough to return to prison, they would be re-arrested. The act thus became known as the ‘Cat and Mouse Act’. Cat and Mouse Act Poster by Women's Social and Political Union...NOR. (Museum of London) Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons June 1913 At the Derby horse race at Epsom, Emily Wilding Davison deliberately walked onto the racecourse as the horses approached and as a result, she died of her wounds in hospital. It was thought she might have been trying to stick a suffragette rosette on the horse, but she was trampled. Over 20,000 people attended her funeral and she became the first martyr of the suffrage movement. The cover of The Suffragette magazine, 13 June 1913, by the Suffragette newspaper [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons June 1913 After the government failed to pass an act to extend the vote to women in 1912, the NUWSS started a pilgrimage from Carlisle to London. Thousands of people joined the march in support!

1912 Many of the suffragettes’ tactics involved heckling Members of Parliament during speeches and standing outside the House of Commons holding demonstrations. In 1912, they started a stone-throwing campaign. Hundreds of windows were smashed and over 200 suffragettes were arrested. The suffragettes also took their actions further, making arson attacks and blowing up buildings.