Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography

465 Pages·2005·1.39 MB·English

by  June Purvis

EMMELINE PANKHURST
WOMEN’S AND GENDER HISTORY
Edited by June Purvis
CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND
Louise A. Jackson
CRIMES OF OUTRAGE
Sex, violence and Victorian working women
Shani D’Cruze
EMMELINE PANKHURST
A biography
June Purvis
FEMINISM, FEMININITY AND THE POLITICS OF
WORKING WOMEN
The Women’s Co-operative Guild, 1880s to the Second World War
Gillian Scott
GENDER AND CRIME IN MODERN EUROPE
Edited by Margaret L. Arnot and Cornelie Usborne
GENDER RELATIONS IN GERMAN HISTORY
Power, agency and experience from the sixteenth to the twentieth century
Edited by Lynn Abrams and Elizabeth Harvey
IMAGING HOME
Gender, ‘race’ and national identity, 1945–64
Wendy Webster
MIDWIVES OF THE REVOLUTION
Female Bolsheviks and women workers in 1917
Jane McDermid and Anna Hillyar
NO DISTINCTION OF SEX?
Women in British universities 1870–1939
Carol Dyhouse
POLICING GENDER, CLASS AND FAMILY
Britain, 1850–1945
Linda Mahood
PROSTITUTION
Prevention and reform in England, 1860–1914
Paula Bartley
SYLVIA PANKHURST
Sexual politics and political activism
Barbara Winslow
VOTES FOR WOMEN
Edited by June Purvis and Sandra Holton
WOMEN’S HISTORY: BRITAIN 1850–1945
Edited by June Purvis
THE WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT
A reference guide, 1866–1928
Elizabeth Crawford
WOMEN AND TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGES 1900–1960
A culture of femininity
Elizabeth Edwards
WOMEN, WORK AND SEXUAL POLITICS IN EIGHTEENTH-
CENTURY ENGLAND
Bridget Hill
WOMEN WORKERS AND GENDER IDENTITIES, 1835–1913
The cotton and metal industries in England
Carol E. Morgan

EMMELINE
PANKHURST
A biography
June Purvis
London and New York
First published 2002
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor and Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2002 June Purvis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Purvis, June.
Emmeline Pankhurst:a biography/June Purvis.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Pankhurst, Emmeline, 1858–1928. 2. Suffragists–Great Britain–Biography.
3. Suffragists–Great Britain–Political activity. I. Title.
JN979.P28 P87 2002
324.6'23'092–dc21 2002024911
ISBN 0-203-35852-X Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-41540-X (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–23978–8(Print Edition)
TO ALL THOSE FEMINISTS, PAST,
PRESENT AND FUTURE, AND THEIR
STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY FOR WOMEN

CONTENTS
List of illustrations xi
Acknowledgements xiii
List of abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
1 Childhood and young womanhood (1858–1879) 9
2 Marriage and entry into political life (1880–March 1887) 18
3 Political hostess (June 1887–1892) 25
4 Socialist and public representative (1893–1897) 39
5 Widowhood and employment (1898–February 1903) 51
6 Foundation and early years of the WSPU
(March 1903–January 1906) 65
7 To London (February 1906–June 1907) 79
8 Autocrat of the WSPU? (July 1907–September 1908) 96
9 Emmeline and Christabel (October 1908–January 1909) 113
10 ‘A new and more heroic plane’ (January–September 1909) 122
11 Personal sorrow and fortitude
(September 1909–early January 1911) 135
ix