Womens Franchise Procession and Demonstration

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

22263

Title

Women's Franchise Procession and Demonstration in October 1909

Description

A photograph of the Great Procession and Women's Demonstration in 1909. The image shows crowds of people congregated together to watch the procession. Many of those marching are carrying large banners. There is a brass band marching in front of the banner procession. There are also horses and carts that are carrying men and women. The photograph also shows a long view of Princes Street, which emphasises the amount of people who turned out for the demonstration.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1909

Type

Photograph

Location

The People's Story

The word suffrage, meaning voting tablet, derives from the Latin suffragium and is used to denote the right to vote.
Before 1866 it was unusual for women to enter a profession, or even further education and it was in that year that John Stuart Mill introduced the first amendment in favour of women's suffrage in the House of Commons. It was the first of many bills to be defeated between 1866 and 1892.

In 1867 the Women's Suffrage Society was formed in major cities, including Edinburgh and in 1903 Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters formed the Women's Social Political Union.

When the Liberals won the General Election in 1906, the WSPU resolved to harass them until women were given the vote and it was then that the Daily Mail newspaper first used the term suffragette to refer to the more militant women campaigners.

The first Scottish women's suffrage procession was held in Edinburgh in 1907, but it was the Great Procession and Women's Demonstration in 1909 that attracted much attention. On that day women, including a number of ladies on horseback, marched along Princes Street, watched by a large crowd of spectators. They wore the WSPU colours of purple, white and green and carried many banners.

In 1908 the WSPU adopted purple, white, and green as its official colours. These colours were chosen by Emmeline Pethick Lawrence because "Purple...stands for the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette...white stands for purity in private and public life...green is the colour of hope and the emblem of spring".

Some women, as well as men were against votes for women, sometimes attracting violence and cartoons in the press suggested that if women had the vote it would cause the break-up of homes and family. Equally, some men were in favour of the movement. Many women suffered for the cause, often being sent to prison for their actions and enduring forcible feeding if they went on hunger strike in protest at their treatment.

With the advent of the First World War, the WSPU suspended their militant activities, and in 1917 the Representation of the People bill was passed. In November 1918, after the Armistice, women were at last allowed to stand for Parliament, but it wasn't until June 1928 that the Second Representation of the People Act made women eligible to vote on the same terms as men.

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Government > National > Suffrage

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Womens Franchise Procession and Demonstration

Womens Franchise Procession and Demonstration