THE PROJECT AND HOW TO ACCESS
Following the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914, suffragette campaigners indicated their intent to suspend militant tactics for the duration of the war. In return, the Government granted an amnesty releasing those in prison and collating a list of all the persons to whom it applied. Each entry, on the resulting list, gives the name and dates of arrest of over 1300 people.
The aim of this project is to research each name included in the amnesty record to discover the lives they led; to understand
their personal campaign for the vote and to reflect on their motives for standing up for a fundamental political right.
This research uses census returns, birth, marriage and death records, newspaper archives and the Suffragette Collection, published by the website http://www.findmypast.co.uk, which are the official files kept by the authorities. These include reports of force feeding or prisoner's demeanour while incarcerated, letters from concerned relatives, medical notes, internal memos between government ministers, the police and judiciary.
For a more detailed explanation of the research methods please see the Methodology Page.
While the database does not include reference footnotes, the original research does. I am more than happy to provide these, so do, as others have, get in touch.
As the campaign progressed, and the volume of both women and men arrested increased, the newspapers, a great resource for age and residence, did not record every person and where this coincides with poor official recordkeeping, identifying individuals with certainty becomes impossible. Nonetheless, each is named in the hope that more information may transpire through the help of relatives or other researchers. Many have contributed thus far and for this, I am very grateful.
As each letter of the alphabet is completed, each individual's information is added to an map. Each clickable pin leads to a summary of that person's biography. Please see the Map Page for details of the summarised information.
The website also includes a Demonstrations Page and a Gallery Page. The former gives an overview of each major suffragette demonstration and includes a list, gleaned from the contemporaneous press reports, of those arrested. The Gallery Page focuses on photographs of important buildings, parades etc.
Many of the blogs have, after publication, received input from descendants. This input is highly appreciated.
A thank you is also due to the Museum of London who has supported this project and permitted the use of their digital archive of photographs and artefacts and to the British Museum and other museums and archives who have collaborated and published the content on their websites.
You can access the research by:
searching a name on the database link on the Home Page and the Database Page.
clicking on a category on the Database Page will give you, for example, all the campaigners with a surname beginning by A
clicking on an entry in the Alphabetical List of the Women and Men Arrested Page takes you directly to the specific blog page
for a more general explore pick a month on the side of the Database Page
The aim of this project is to research each name included in the amnesty record to discover the lives they led; to understand
their personal campaign for the vote and to reflect on their motives for standing up for a fundamental political right.
This research uses census returns, birth, marriage and death records, newspaper archives and the Suffragette Collection, published by the website http://www.findmypast.co.uk, which are the official files kept by the authorities. These include reports of force feeding or prisoner's demeanour while incarcerated, letters from concerned relatives, medical notes, internal memos between government ministers, the police and judiciary.
For a more detailed explanation of the research methods please see the Methodology Page.
While the database does not include reference footnotes, the original research does. I am more than happy to provide these, so do, as others have, get in touch.
As the campaign progressed, and the volume of both women and men arrested increased, the newspapers, a great resource for age and residence, did not record every person and where this coincides with poor official recordkeeping, identifying individuals with certainty becomes impossible. Nonetheless, each is named in the hope that more information may transpire through the help of relatives or other researchers. Many have contributed thus far and for this, I am very grateful.
As each letter of the alphabet is completed, each individual's information is added to an map. Each clickable pin leads to a summary of that person's biography. Please see the Map Page for details of the summarised information.
The website also includes a Demonstrations Page and a Gallery Page. The former gives an overview of each major suffragette demonstration and includes a list, gleaned from the contemporaneous press reports, of those arrested. The Gallery Page focuses on photographs of important buildings, parades etc.
Many of the blogs have, after publication, received input from descendants. This input is highly appreciated.
A thank you is also due to the Museum of London who has supported this project and permitted the use of their digital archive of photographs and artefacts and to the British Museum and other museums and archives who have collaborated and published the content on their websites.
You can access the research by:
searching a name on the database link on the Home Page and the Database Page.
clicking on a category on the Database Page will give you, for example, all the campaigners with a surname beginning by A
clicking on an entry in the Alphabetical List of the Women and Men Arrested Page takes you directly to the specific blog page
for a more general explore pick a month on the side of the Database Page
BACKGROUND
I did not start out as a historical researcher rather I came it to through a circuitous route of a law degree and a career as a chartered tax accountant. Curiosity led to researching, as the online records multiplied, my children's paternal family, an uncle had already thoroughly investigated the maternal side. Bitten by the research bug, I completed a diploma in genealogical, palaeographic and heraldic studies at Strathclyde University. Along the way, I discovered Charlotte Despard and her sister, Katherine Harley, both of whom campaigned for universal suffrage, and are my children's 3 times great aunts. I became more and more intrigued by such a significant campaign, coming to realise how ahead of her times Charlotte was.
Wishing to learn more about researching and writing biography I began a masters course at the University of Buckingham. The word count limit for the dissertation led me to abandon Charlotte as I did not feel I could do her justice. Although, I did write about her for a first year paper. Instead, I wrote about the disgraced Earl of Beauchamp forced to flee abroad for being homosexual.
During my studies, the amnesty record was published on line and I began, out of curiosity, to research some of the women and men listed. This led to a website and database which I have continued with breaks to complete my dissertation.
Masters completed, I returned to do a PhD with Charlotte as the subject. But this project continues with the aim of researching all those listed in the amnesty record.
Wishing to learn more about researching and writing biography I began a masters course at the University of Buckingham. The word count limit for the dissertation led me to abandon Charlotte as I did not feel I could do her justice. Although, I did write about her for a first year paper. Instead, I wrote about the disgraced Earl of Beauchamp forced to flee abroad for being homosexual.
During my studies, the amnesty record was published on line and I began, out of curiosity, to research some of the women and men listed. This led to a website and database which I have continued with breaks to complete my dissertation.
Masters completed, I returned to do a PhD with Charlotte as the subject. But this project continues with the aim of researching all those listed in the amnesty record.
Proudly powered by Weebly