Lila Clunas

The next entry reads Lily Clunes or Lila Clunas who was arrested during July 1909. The official records state she was born in 1880 and, at the time of her arrest, lived at 1 Blackness Crescent, Dundee. While her address is correct; her year of birth was actually 1876. She was born in Govanhill, Glasgow to Hugh and Elsie. Baptised Margaret Eliza, she was always known as Lila. She had an elder sister, Elsie, three younger brothers and three younger sisters, Jessie, Alice and Grace. Hugh, her father, worked in textiles. A manager of a blanket factory, in 1894 he went into partnership with John Allison taking over James Spence & Company, a drapery business in Dundee, at which point the family moved to the town. 

Lila was educated at the Bell Baxter School, Cupar – a school formed from the amalgamation of two educational establishments one of which had been originally founded to support the education of young women. The St Andrews Citizen, 1 December 1894, reported that Lila had sat the exams for a higher-grade clerkship in the Civil Service. Nearly 700 candidates entered. Lila came an impressive 46th.  
 A dispute occurred between her father’s partnership, Clunas & Allinson, and the Dundee Eastern Co-Operative Society. The partners placed an advertisement in the Evening Telegraph, 23 July 1897, accusing the Co-op: ‘the system of trading with the society is iniquitous, pernicious and a gross injustice to the trading community.’ They included a letter sent to the Co-op stating that, in future, they would only trade with them on the same terms as they did with the public. The advertisement continued asserting it was a ‘sacrifice on the altar of justice and principle.’ Similar statements appeared in several other local newspapers and were repeated in subsequent editions. Hugh died two years later aged only 53. By 1900 the business had ceased trading. This courage to stand up for fair treatment must have influenced Lila.

It is not clear what Lila did until 1901 when the census records her studying at the Moray House Teacher Training Centre in Edinburgh. After she returned to Dundee, Lila was appointed a teacher at the Brown Street Elementary School. She lived with her family at 1 Blackness Avenue.

Records indicate that Lila joined the WSPU in 1906. The first mention of her in the press is in the 27 February 1907 edition of the Dundee Courier. A Dundee WSPU branch meeting was held at Gilfillan Hall and Lila was one of the speakers. Several months later, Emmeline Pankhurst visited Dundee as part of a tour of Scotland. Among the many women who listened to her address a gathering was Lila, her mother and sisters.

Two of Lila’s sisters were also involved in the campaign for women’s suffrage, Elise and Jessie who was two years younger. The 1901 census records both living with their mother while Lila was training in Edinburgh. Elsie was employed as a clerk to a merchant and Jessie was working as a milliner. Many of the newspaper reports, when reporting the campaign, refer to Miss Clunas making it difficult to identify which sister was the participant. Neither Elsie or Jessie are included in the official arrest record. The remit of this project is to know and understand the life of each arrestee and therefore I feel it is important to consider all three sisters. Where I can, I will identify the specific sister. 

It appears likely that Elsie and Jessie joined the WSPU in 1906 like Lila who was also a member of the Independent Labour Party. However, following the schism within the WSPU it appears that all three joined the Women’s Freedom League in 1907. Lila joined the steering committee and then was appointed secretary in 1908. The Vote, 25 November 1909, reported that Lila had made ‘an effective protest, at a recent meeting chaired by the Cabinet member, Richard Haldane and after had addressed the crowd. 

In November 1907, Edmund Robertson, a Member of Parliament for Dundee, held a meeting at Gilfillan Hall in the town. Elsie attended accompanied by two fellow suffragettes, Helen and Annot Wilkie. Elsie asked about the enfranchisement of women. Robertson’s failure to fully respond led Annot to move for a vote of no confidence in the Member for Parliament observing that he seemed to have ‘no heart and no feeling.’ Her sister, Helen, seconded the motion. On a technicality of the conduct of the meeting, the call for a vote of no confidence was rejected. However, Robertson thanked the women adding that he did not mean to treat lightly their questions ‘because there were serious questions.’ 

Lila was arrested and charged with obstruction in February 1909. The Dundee Courier reported her arrest with the headline ‘Dundee Lady Teacher Arrested.’ She was arrested along with Amy Ward Hicks, Elsie Cummin and Cecilia Law. The four had been sent to present the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, with a petition. When he appeared, the women rushed forward handing over the petition to Asquith who disappeared inside No 10. The women had been originally tasked to not only hand over the petition but to explain their point of view. Realising their error, the four having left Downing Street, returned. The police then arrested them. At court all four were fined £3 and requested to give an undertaking not to repeat their actions. The four elected for the alternative of 3 weeks in prison.

The official files include statements from the four arrested women. Lila is clear that she was standing on the pavement and no one asked them to move to one side. If she had been, she would have complied. Another said that they had stood two abreast on either side of the Downing Street door neither blocking the pavement, the road or the doorway. A police inspector had entered twice. He indicated to Amelia Hicks that the petition would be acknowledged, and the women waited for this and to be heard. Reading through all the statements the only conclusion to draw is that the police approach was heavy-handed. 

​The Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage, The New Union of Men and Women for Women’s Suffrage and the Committee for Justice for Women presented a petition to the governor of Holloway prison requesting that the four women be placed in the First Division as they were political prisoners. Elsie Cummins protested personally against the Second Division categorisation, the wearing of prison clothes and the stuffiness of her cell requesting two panes be removed from the window. The authorities declined to action either. One memo argues that even if the action was political, it did not mean the prisoner was political.  
 
On 23 July, the WFL protested to the visiting committee at Holloway. While inside they had all adhered to the prison rules while other prisoners, who had not, had been released. An internal memo, dated 15 July, appears to substantiate this, observing that the WFL prisoners are ‘behaving properly, the others are in revolt.’ On 28 July, the Home Office Secretary decided to release the four women ‘in consideration of all the circumstances and as an act of clemency.’ This decision appears be a direct response to the WFL’s protest five days earlier.9 There is no indication within the files that Lila either refused food or was force-fed. 
 
The family has a letter from Lila written after her arrest which opens ‘the great event is over, and I have been arrested.’  Lila told a reporter that she believed it was because the government had lost at the Dumfries by-election. Asked about her future plans, she said she was going home for a rest. Grace recollected that after prison Lila ‘became weak’ and would, at meetings, sit near the door ‘to make a hasty retreat because the police were so rough.’ This would explain why, as discussed below, Jessie deputised for Lila. 
 
Dundee elected two men to the House of Commons. Winston Churchill was appointed President of the Board of Trade, the youngest Cabinet member in over forty years. In need of a Parliamentary seat, he had to stand for election in a by-election which he narrowly lost. In consequence in May 1908, he stood in the safe seat of Dundee comfortably winning. The other Member of Parliament was Alexander Wilkie, Labour, whose win in 1906 demonstrated a move away from Liberal politics by the voters. 
 
As the Member of Parliament for Dundee, Churchill, in October 1909, agreed to meet with Agnes Husband and Lila from the WFL and six others for a half-hour discussion. The meeting took place where he was staying, the Queen’s Hotel. Lila requested that the government pledge to enfranchise women on the same terms as men. Churchill pointed out that some years before he had voted in favour of women’s suffrage, but many things had changed since then ‘to the disadvantage of the women’s cause.’ He continued by explaining that in his view to be successful, they had to convert a majority and demonstrate ‘that they had on their side millions of women.’ He observed that ‘the frenzy of a few was not a substitute for the earnest wishes of millions’ – ‘these tactics of silly disorder and petty violence’ would mean that the Government would not concede.   
 

Queen’s Hotel © Great Western Hotels

Early 1910, saw the Liberal government call a general election prompted by the constitutional crisis ensuing from the House of Lords refusal to pass the legislation which became known as the People’s Budget. Dundee was a town with many women committed to the fight for suffrage. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, the WSPU and the WFL all took premises to give them a base to coordinate their election activities. The WFL were based in King Street. As one newspaper observed ‘the women are getting into trim for a vigorous crusade.’ Five candidates were standing, Churchill, Liberal, Wilkie, Labour, John Hall Seymour Lloyd, Conservative, James Glass, Liberal Unionist and Edwin Scrymgeour, Scottish Prohibition. Lila wrote to each candidate posing three questions: are you in favour of granting the Parliamentary vote to women on the same terms as men; will you pledge yourself to vote for a Bill giving the vote to women on the same terms as men and will you mention your view on Women’s Suffrage in your election address? To Churchill, she additionally asked: will the Liberal government, if returned to power, enfranchise the women of the country on the same terms as men?   
 
Churchill held a meeting for women at the local YMCA. Elsie, accompanied by two other women, went along. To their surprise, they were allowed in without question. Inside, they met up with Jessie. According to Elsie, although her sister was not doing anything, Jessie was removed from the hall by the stewards before the meeting commenced. However, the stewards failed to identify Elsie and her companions and were horrified when they rose to speak. The Vote originally reported the woman ejected was Lila, but this was corrected in the following edition when Jessie stated she had reported her treatment to the police. A few weeks later, Lila wrote in the Vote that the police had refused to investigate the matter. The reason why Jessie deputised for her sister is contained in a report in the Vote. Lila had been threatened with dismissal as a teacher by a prominent local Liberal and local town councillor. Churchill and Wilkie were elected Members of Parliament for Dundee. Not long after Lila was threatened with dismissal she resigned as secretary of the Dundee Branch. 
 
During April 1910, Lila gave a talk in Methil to the East Fife Branch of the United Irish League. A few months later in June 1910, the Dundee branch sent delegates to a march in London. Jessie marched in the single imprisonment section representing Lila alongside Celia Laws, Amy Hicks and Elsie Cummins, her fellow prisoners.
 
The 21 May 1910 edition of the Vote reported that Miss L Clunas had been reinstated as secretary and subsequent editions record a Miss Clunas speaking, alongside Marguerite Sidley, at open-air meetings on three consecutive days in Dundee or chairing meetings. However, it is not clear whether this was Lila, who no longer felt under threat, or one of her sisters. In any event, throughout most of that summer and autumn a succession of speeches were given by a Miss Clunas. By November 1910, it was reported that Miss Clunes had resigned again as secretary. She was thanked ‘for her strenuous efforts.’ 

Lila continued to work tirelessly for the cause. She hit on one inventive idea when informed that she would not be admitted to Kinnaird Hall where Churchill was due to give a speech. Lila resolved to gain access by transforming herself into a human letter. She attached a card addressed to Churchill to her chest and went to the Post Office requesting to be delivered by express messenger. The Post Office accepted her order. After a payment of 3d, Lila was delivered to Churchill’s residence ‘as a packet by the telegraph boy.’ Churchill’s private secretary informed Lila that his master was not at home even when the delivery was stamped by the postal authorities.  Lila may not have gained an audience with Churchill, but she garnered widespread press coverage. 
A few weeks later, the Dundee branch of the WFL protested at the proposal of granting to Asquith the freedom of the town. In a letter to the Burgesses, signed by Agnes Husband, Helen Wilkie and Lila, it was pointed out that Asquith was ‘directly responsible for the fact that women political prisoners have been treated as common criminals, and have been tortured by forcible feeding.’ 
 
 
The WFL, like all suffrage organisations, continually raised funds. In response to one call, Jessie wrote to the head office in London requesting a collection box. She informed them that they already had one in their home for the local branch and the addition of one or two pennies a week soon mounted up. She proposed to do the same for head office. The idea was warmly welcomed and suggested to all readers. During 1912, Elsie gave several talks on Lucy Stone Blackwell, the American pioneer for women’s rights. The Post Office directory for 1911/12 records Elsie as the WFL treasurer and Lila the secretary. A role Elsie appears to have occupied since December 1910. Lila stepped down as secretary in May 1912. A resignation which was ‘received with deep regret, and general testimony was borne to her unwearied efforts on behalf of the Branch.’ 
 On 23 January 1913, Jessie sailed on the SS Ballarat bound for Australia along with a Miss Kinnaird. The WFL dispatched them with books but the reason why is unclear.Nearly two years later, she married William Sirl. The couple settled in Tallangatta, Victoria and had four children. The eldest was baptised, Hugh, in memory of his grandfather.  
Lila continued her support of the suffrage campaign. The Dundee branch presented her with a ‘handsome dispatch case containing all the necessary implements for warfare.’ In a speech of gratitude, her ‘many unselfish and arduous labours’ were praised along with her ‘whole-hearted loyalty’. Her actions demonstrated what a working woman could achieve.
A year to the day Jessie sailed for Australia, Lila wrote to the local paper. Wilkie was giving a speech in Gilfillan Hall. Lila had purchased a ticket in advance but on arrival was informed that instructions from head office were to refuse her admittance. A refund was offered which Lila refused as she continued to stand firm. Two stewards then seized her bundling her roughly into the street. Lila believed that the reason was the questions she had asked at earlier meetings. She wrote the letter for those women ‘who have any lingering faith in the Labour party perhaps my experience …may be instructive.’ Lila observed that the ILP professed wholeheartedly its support for votes for women and detested the treatment of women who attempted to attend Liberal meetings, but the meeting had been under the auspices of, in part the, ILP. Wilkie claimed that any hecklers had been paid at recent meetings. Lila, who had attended with Elsie, vehemently denied the allegation. Lila concluded that Wilkie’s inability to grasp that many felt so strongly they did not need pecuniary reward ‘shows how very low his own ideals must be.’ 
Later in the year, Lila wrote a letter protesting at the treatment of suffragette prisoners. She pointed out that ‘one need not believe in militancy or even in women’s suffrage to disapprove’ of their treatment. It was a letter which led to several weeks of published letters in the Dundee Courier debating the subject from both sides. Lila again took up the position of secretary for 1917. 
By 1918, Lila had moved to Broughty Ferry, to the east of Dundee on the Firth of Tay. Writing some observations of Churchill’s behaviour, who was defending his seat, Lila observed that women who now had the vote were very much an unknown quantity and while she was not connected to any particular political party, she could appreciate loyalty. Over the coming years, Lila worked to inspire young women to become politically engaged. For instance, in February 1925, she gave a talk on Women in Politics.
In 1943, Lila was elected a Labour Party Councillor for Dundee. She served as a councillor for eleven years. On her retirement, Lila was presented with a gold watch inscribed: ‘for 11 years faithful service’ at a social and dance attended by over two hundred people. Lila continued to be involved in public life even after retirement.
She died in 1968. 

​The sisters’, elder brother, Hugh, married and settled in Liverpool. In 1914, his wife passed away leaving him with a young family. The electoral roll records Elsie living with Hugh. He died in 1930 but Elsie appears to have remained in Liverpool working as a sub-post mistress.

She died in 1951 living back in Scotland.