Centenary of Suffragette Protest

[Tamrin]

Centenary of Suffragette Protest

Muriel Matters

UK Parliament 28 October 1908

[Excerpt - Australian Dictionary of Biography - Linked Above]

Miss Matters lectured in Hyde Park and in 1908 took the first 'Votes for Women' caravan on a tour of villages in the south of England where she met Henry James, a supporter, at Rye. On 28 October she gained notoriety by chaining herself to an iron grille in the ladies' gallery of the House of Commons and declaiming women's suffrage aims. She was removed, still attached to the grille, and sent to Holloway Prison for a month; she adopted the cause of prison reform. Matters spent a year in Wales advocating votes for women and held meetings in Dublin. In 1909 she flew over London in an airship inscribed 'Votes for Women', scattering handbills over parliament. But she objected when more violent militants took over the movement.

[Tamrin]

Sister Suffragists

Australian Women Activists in England

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[Excerpt - National Library of Australia - Linked Above][/center]

In 1909, Matters really made the headlines. The Daily Mail, 17 February, ran a banner ‘Handbills from the Clouds’. Matters had ascended over London in a balloon, equipped with a large supply of handbills and flags and a megaphone. On one side of the balloon in large black letters were the words ‘Votes for Women’ and on the other side ‘Women’s Freedom League’. Suffragists in motorcars followed the airship, delivering one-minute speeches through megaphones and distributing handbills.

The same newspaper report refers to Muriel Matters as ‘the heroine of the “Grille” incident in the House of Commons’. On 28 October 1908, Matters had chained herself to the brass grille that prevented visitors in the ladies’ gallery from being seen from the floor of the House. Matters was removed, still declaiming the cause of women’s suffrage and still attached to the grille. Suffragists hailed her speech as the first delivered by a woman in the House of Commons.

[Tamrin]

We've got a generation now who were born with semiequality.
They don't know how it was before, so they think, this isn't too bad.
We're working. We have our attache' cases and our three piece suits.
I get very disgusted with the younger generation of women.
We had a torch to pass, and they are just sitting there.
They don't realize it can be taken away.
Things are going to have to get worse before they join in fighting the battle.

Erma Bombeck

[keith]

I would remind you that Kate Sheppard was a leading member of the Women's Suffrage movement in New Zealand and New Zealand women were the first in the world to vote in 1893

(edited to correct spelling)

[Tamrin]

Jan 16, 2009 8:19:02 GMT 10 keith said:

I would remind you that Kate Sheppard was a leading member of the Women's Suffrage movement in New Zealand and New Zealand women were the first in the world to vote in 1893

Fair go Keith, next you'll be telling us Phar Lap was a Kiwi.

Seriously, point taken and its a great credit to your nation.