The Suffragettes
The Suffragettes in Cornwall
* Green for hope, white for purity and purple for purity - in other words Green, White, Violet - Give Women the Vote.
The Suffragettes were part of the women’s suffrage movements of the late 19th and early 20th century. For Victorian women, the inability to vote meant that they had very few rights and their disenfranchised status had become a symbol of civil inequality.
The Suffragettes are not to be confused with the suffragists who were a more peaceful group fighting for the same cause. They were notorious for their shock-provoking tactics; chaining themselves to the railings outside Buckingham palace, burning down churches because the Church of England refused to support them, vandalising Oxford Street, Emily Wilding Davison throwing herself under the King's horse. Being sent to prison didn’t frighten them either, here they would refuse to eat and the government feared they would starve to death giving the movement martyrs.
On the 19th of June, the Suffragettes came to Cornwall. Four ladies, described by the Cornishman as ‘this little band of zealots’ comprising Miss Misick, Mrs Ramsay, Miss Raby and Miss Helen Fraser, began the Suffrage Pilgrimage from Land’s End to London with a hearty send off from Mrs Bolitho, Honorary Chairman of the Penzance Branch of the NUWS. Along their way they would spread their message, knocking on doors to explain their aim, marching, singing, distributing their literature and recruiting support. Support picked up rapidly, and upon reaching the Trereife Crossroads, they were joined by 20 members of the local branch, as well as a curious crowd that would increase along the way.
It was market day on their arrival into Penzance, and the town would be lively. Because of this the group took an alternative route up Clarence Street to the cattle market where at 8 o’ clock that evening Miss Helen Fraser would take to
* Green for hope, white for purity and purple for purity - in other words Green, White, Violet - Give Women the Vote.
The Suffragettes were part of the women’s suffrage movements of the late 19th and early 20th century. For Victorian women, the inability to vote meant that they had very few rights and their disenfranchised status had become a symbol of civil inequality.
The Suffragettes are not to be confused with the suffragists who were a more peaceful group fighting for the same cause. They were notorious for their shock-provoking tactics; chaining themselves to the railings outside Buckingham palace, burning down churches because the Church of England refused to support them, vandalising Oxford Street, Emily Wilding Davison throwing herself under the King's horse. Being sent to prison didn’t frighten them either, here they would refuse to eat and the government feared they would starve to death giving the movement martyrs.
On the 19th of June, the Suffragettes came to Cornwall. Four ladies, described by the Cornishman as ‘this little band of zealots’ comprising Miss Misick, Mrs Ramsay, Miss Raby and Miss Helen Fraser, began the Suffrage Pilgrimage from Land’s End to London with a hearty send off from Mrs Bolitho, Honorary Chairman of the Penzance Branch of the NUWS. Along their way they would spread their message, knocking on doors to explain their aim, marching, singing, distributing their literature and recruiting support. Support picked up rapidly, and upon reaching the Trereife Crossroads, they were joined by 20 members of the local branch, as well as a curious crowd that would increase along the way.
It was market day on their arrival into Penzance, and the town would be lively. Because of this the group took an alternative route up Clarence Street to the cattle market where at 8 o’ clock that evening Miss Helen Fraser would take to