Shropshire Routes to Roots

Suffragettes in Shropshire: Source questions

Suggested answers to the Suffragette Source questions

1. The Suffragettes hoped to achieve the removal of "electoral disabilities of women", in other words, giving women the right to vote
2. The pamphlet suggests that the 1)creation of a Central Committee 2)formation of new Provincial and Local Committees and 3) the Central Committee doing more to communicate 'the progress of the movement'
3. Sources C and D, outline the following reasons why the Suffragettes believed that women should have the right to vote: women paid rates and owned property, they also voted in local Board elections, took part in Vestry meetings, served as Church Wardens, Overseers and Members of School Boards.
4. Just because Source D is written by someone who believes in the Suffragette cause, does not mean that it is not a valuable historic source. The source gives an indication of the views and ideas of the Suffragette movement, which is valuable in itself. It gives an impression and a feeling of the time, even if it may not present a balanced argument.
5. From Violet Ann Bland's experiences, its seems that the police had a very tough attitude against the Suffragettes, they are described as having used "considerable violence", the sources say that they made "many arrests" and the evidence also suggests that they were keen to bring cases to court and prosecute and imprison the Suffragettes.
6. Evidence showing that men supported the Suffragette movement include: Source A; the Parliamentary Bill to give women the right to vote, which could have only been drafted and put to Parliament by men. Source B; this memo or pamphlet was written and signed by men, who took a central part in the organisation. Source C; this letter is signed by some of the male members of the National Society for Women's Suffrage Central Committee and within the letter it claims that "Municipal Boroughs, such as Manchester, Huddersfield, Newark" have adopted the petition, the members of these Boroughs would have been men, because women would not have been able to sit on these Municipal Boards, suggesting that there was male support for suffrage in these areas. However, the accounts of the police, do provide a contrasting picture of male support for the Suffragettes.
7. Possible ideas could include; diary entries of Suffragettes, MP's, police men etc, personal letters, Parliamentary Reports, books (secondary sources), possibly early photographs and illustrations.