The card index, created by the Home Office of each woman or man arrested during the suffrage campaign, was collated, in 1922, into a bound document known as the Amnesty of August 1914: Index of People Arrested 1906-1914. Each entry lists the arrestee’s name, the date and place of arrest. These entries are the starting point for researching the biography of each individual listed.
The British Newspaper Archives, gives access to contemporaneous newspaper reports which often report the age and the town or city where the arrestee lived. The FindmyPast Suffrage Collection comprises suffrage records held by the National Archives, spanning from 1902 to 1919, including Home Office papers, prison reports, photographs, medical assessments and detailed accounts of force-feeding. These may provide marital status, a more accurate year of birth, or middle names. All of this data enables a search of genealogical websites such as Ancestry or FindmyPast for census returns, birth, marriage, death records, probate records etc.
The research then moves to the events which led to the arrest and location in the newspaper archives reports of a court appearance, the verdict and the sentence. If the person went to prison, a further search is made of the Suffrage Collection to find any records of their time in prison such as force-feeding, letters from relatives etc.
The suffrage press, the Vote and Votes for Women are searched to see if the person was an active member of a suffrage group such as the Women’s Social and Political Union or the Women’s Freedom League before and after their arrest.
The final piece of research is how the person’s life unfolded after their involvement in the suffrage campaign. Did they, for example, remain politically active?
A summary, year of birth, place of residence, membership of suffrage group etc, is included in the Interactive Map.
For an overall consideration of the major demonstrations and the women and men who participated please see the demonstration page.
A gallery page includes images of important buildings, places of demonstration etc.