Many people are aware of the women’s suffrage movement only in terms of the somewhat violent protests by women in the early part of the nineteenth century, conjuring up images of women chained to railings, throwing themselves under racehorses and being forcibly fed in prison. It might therefore be something of a surprise to learn that the political campaign actually lasted for 62 years, from 1866 when John Stuart Mill presented the first petition to Parliament, to 1928 when women achieved full enfranchisement for the first time. As in many other areas, the foundations of universal franchise were laid by the Victorians, who, far from being the staid and stuffy society so commonly portrayed, showed an energy for social and political reform that has rarely been equalled in this country.
The suffrage movement had its spokesmen in Parliament from the very beginning, mainly radical Liberals, and gathered an increasing amount of cross‐party support as the years went by. It was the intractable opposition of the Cabinet that rendered all the initial attempts to pass the necessary Bill for universal franchise futile. Of course, until the Act of 1884, there was no universal male suffrage either, so perhaps it was too optimistic to think that the parliamentary diehards could be brought to consider women’s suffrage at the same time. This would have been truly revolutionary when it had taken more than 50 years to give all classes of men the vote. By 1906 it was clear that the only way by which the government could be forced to pass the necessary legislation was by pressure exerted by the (male) electorate. It has been said that the more violent tactics adopted by women at this time, and indeed after the First World War had begun, did a great disservice to the cause, and in fact delayed its ultimate success. Equally, it has been said that the efforts of the great majority of women during the First World War in factories, on the land, in transport and many other capacities, did much to change public opinion regarding the fitness of women to have the vote, which is why it was conferred on women over the age of 30 in 1918.
This encyclopaedia is an excellent guide to the many personalities and organisations involved in the movement from its very beginnings. It is both well researched and well written. The bulk of the entries are biographical as one might expect but it also covers subject areas such as newspapers and journals, libraries, prisons, publishers, photography and many other topics. There are short lists of references at the end of most entries with indications of locations of portraits and archival sources as well as a substantial bibliography and a list of archival sources at the end of the book which together would be of considerable value to any researcher in the field. Although the price may seem somewhat high, the amount of research that has gone into the compilation of this encyclopaedia is considerable and it will surely become a major reference work in this field.
