Book Review: Sally Heathcote: Suffragette

'Sally Heathcote: Suffragette' by May Talbot, Kate Charlesworth and Bryan Talbot. — ‘Sally Heathcote: Suffragette’ by Mary Talbot, Kate Charlesworth and Bryan Talbot.

Talbot, Mary M, Kate Charlesworth and Bryan Talbot. Sally Heathcote: Suffragette. London: Jonathan Cape, 2014.

Sally Heathcote: Suffragette is a graphic novel that follows Sally Heathcote, a fictional young woman from Manchester who works for the Pankhurst family before they move to London. The story of the suffragettes, from the early days in Manchester through to World War One, is told through the eyes of Sally, a young working class woman who grew up in the workhouse. The book is thoughtful, historically accurate and beautifully illustrated; and a refreshing alternative to traditional depictions of the suffragettes.

Protest and graphic novels are not strangers. I recently reviewed Fight the Power on this blog, which tells the story of many key examples of historical protest in the English-speaking world. V for Vendetta is a well-known example, with V masks becoming a common feature at marches and demonstrations across the world over the past few years. The recent Comics Unmasked exhibition at the British Library had a whole section on the connections between comics, graphic novels and dissent, which showed that comics frequently constitute protest as well as just representing them.

Sally Heathcote in a WSPU march (Source: Sally Heathcote, 2014).

In a nursing home in Hackney in 1969, an aged Sally dreams about her youth as a suffragette. After leaving the workhouse, Sally became a domestic servant for the Pankhursts. She moves to London several years after the family, and eventually gets a job working for the WSPU. All of the major features of the history of WSPU are then told through Sally’s own experience of them. She is arrested and imprisoned, where she embarks on a hunger strike and is force-fed, like many real-life suffragettes did when they were refused the right to be treated as political prisoners. She joins the Young Hot Bloods, a secretive militant group within the WSPU, and participates in the bombing of a house belonging to Lloyd George. The divisions within the women’s suffrage movement are seen through Sally’s eyes, as is the death of Emily Wilding-Davison, who was killed by the King George V’s Horse at the Epsom Derby in 1913.

Apart from the fictional main character, Sally Heathcote is historically accurate and incredibly well researched, with several pages at the back of the book dedicated to explaining the historical sources and contexts of particular events in the story. Also, some speeches and newspaper articles in the book are lifted directly from genuine historical documents. The story does not idealise the WSPU, depicting many of the movement’s weaknesses and divisions. Throughout the book, Sally talks with a mancunian accent, and her story illustrates the class prejudices that were present amongst the leading members of the WSPU. The splits and acrimony between the Pankhursts and many of their closest allies are also shown. As a result the book is a balanced account of history, showing that maintaining solidarity across differences is one of the most difficult challenges faced by a social movement.

Sally is imprisoned in Holloway Jail (Source: Sally Heathcote, 2014)

Sally Heathcote is not perfect however. Frequently with graphic novels I struggle to tell some of the characters apart, and I find myself failing to develop a connection with the characters, gaining little insight into their emotions and motivations. Although Sally can always be identified by her bright red hair (colour is used sparingly and to great effect within the book), I often couldn’t identify which of the other main protagonists were speaking. This difficulty may be accentuated if the reader is not familiar with the leading members of the women’s suffrage movement. In addition the reader never gets an explanation as to why Sally is so committed to the WSPU. As the book progresses we learn she is headstrong and brave, and feels like she owes a debt to Emmeline Pankhurst for hiring her when she left the workhouse, but she never actually says why the right to vote is so important to her. I think this is a major oversight, as it is harder to identify with Sally if you don’t understand her motives.

Sally Heathcote: Suffragette is a poignant, realistic tale of struggle at the turn of the twentieth century. The Suffragettes are possibly one of the most well-known social movements in British history, so it must be a daunting prospect to try and tell their story from a fresh perspective. Sally Heathcote, with it’s unusual format and brave protagonist, does a pretty good job.

We are the Angry Mob: the Politics of the Kaiser Chiefs

The Kaiser Chiefs perfoming at the O2 arena in February 2014 (Photo by author).

Last week I saw the Kaiser Chiefs live at the O2. It was a fantastic concert, and nostalgic for me, because I last saw them live back in 2007 when I was a teenager in Brighton. But it also brought home to me the political nature of many of the Kaiser Chief lyrics.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with them, the Kaiser Chiefs are an indie rock band from Leeds that formed in 2003. They are named after a South African football club, the first club of an ex-Leeds United Captain. The band consists of Ricky Wilson, Andrew White, Nick Baines, Simon Rix, and Vijay Mistry, who replaced the previous drummer in 2012. The band has had a successful decade, releasing 5 studio albums, 2 of which reached number 1 in the UK. They have also done several memorable live performances, including opening the Live-8 festival in Philadelphia in 2005, and performing at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. They have also been one of my favourite bands since I was 13.

We are the angry mob
We read the papers every day
We like who we like
We hate who we hate
But we’re all so easily swayed
The Angry Mob, 2007

The Kaiser Chiefs have always had critical lyrics in their songs, and they haven’t been very subtle about it. With songs such as I Predict a Riot from the 2005 album Employment and The Angry Mob and Everything is Average Nowadays from 2007’s Yours Truly, Angry Mob, a sense a resentment is obvious. It doesn’t seem obvious to me exactly who, or what, this anger is directed at though, except perhaps modern society in general.

They tell you day after day
To make your way through the factory gates
‘Til they can’t break your will anymore
You are contractually tied to death’s door
The Factory Gates, 2014

The Kaiser Chief's most recent album, 'Education, Education, Education and War.' — The Kaiser Chief’s most recent album, ‘Education, Education, Education and War.’

More recently however, their critique has become more directed. The title of their most recent album Education, Education, Education and War (2014) is a clear critique of Tony Blair, British Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007. It is well known that Blair’s priorities for his time in office were “education, education, education,” and he is blamed by many for the UK’s involvement in the Iraq war. The album also includes the poem The Occupation, written by Ricky Wilson and narrated by Bill Nighy. It is a modern anti-war poem inspired by the centenary of the first world war. It tells the story of an assault by a superpower on Hell, but could be applied to almost any recent conflict, and the result is a damning critique of war and imperial attitudes.

The Occupation
The occupation of Damnation Eternal
Decreed by Commander in Chief
Won by the infantry, led by the Colonel
Came at costs that would beggar belief
As they marched upon the inferno
And the inﬁdels dropped to their knees
Millions of civilians crammed in pavilions
Came to watch it on big screen TVs
The population of Damnation Eternal
Went from millions to thousands to one
The survivor then wrote in his journal
“Why on Earth did it take them so long?”
Within weeks we constructed a pipeline
Within years we’ll have run the place dry
It’ll just about last us our lifetime
So it’s hip hip hoorays and high ﬁves
On the factory ﬂoor there’s a whisper
We built cannons before it began
But the engines still pumping its piston
And the turbine still whirring its fan
The assembly line spits out the surplus
Into purpose built lead lined white vans
Rockets stockpile as ministry workers
Fill their pockets with all that they can
Secret meetings are held in the senate
What to do with this excess supply
There’s a plan to abandon the planet
One V.I.P at a time
So we get up each day and have breakfast
Read the news and the weather forecast
As we sit and we open our letters
And we pray that it won’t be our last.
Words by Ricky Wilson, narrated by Bill Nighy, 2014.

This is not the first time that I have written about the ability of music to make a political statement. Music, songs and chants have always been an important part of protest, and the popularity of modern musicians means they have quite a lot of power to publicise their point of view and influence people. The Kaiser Chiefs’ music has evolved over the last 10 years, but they have never been afraid to use it to express their opinions, which I think only adds to their appeal.

Sources and Further Reading

Adam Sherwin. ‘Kaiser Chiefs and Bill Nighy write modern day anti-war poem for the World War One centenary’ The Independent. Last modified 6th march 2014, accessed 16th February 2015. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/kaiser-chiefs-and-bill-nighy-write-modern-day-antiwar-poem-for-the-world-war-one-centenary-9174405.html

Turbulent Londoners: Robert Lockyer, 1625/6–1649

Turbulent Londoners is a series of posts about radical individuals in London’s history who contributed to the city’s contentious past. My definition of ‘Londoner’ is quite loose, anyone who has played a role in protest in the city can be included. Any suggestions for future Turbulent Londoners posts are very welcome. The fourth Turbulent Londoner is Robert Lockyer, a 17th Century Leveller and parliamentarian who became a martyr for his cause.

Illustration from the 1649 title page of *The Declaration and Standard of the Levellers of England* (Source: Wikimedia).

Since 2009, Crossrail has been burrowing its way beneath central London. Considering London has over 2000 years of history, it is not surprising that Crossrail is engaged in one of the largest archaeological projects the UK has ever seen. Excavation is soon to begin on the Bedlam burial ground under Liverpool Street Station, which was used in the 16^th and 17^th Centuries, and is the location of the final resting place of Robert Lockyer, Leveller and parliamentarian.

Robert Lockyer was alive several hundred years before any of the Londoners I have featured so far, and he was not a member of the aristocracy, so relatively little is known about his life. He would have faded into obscurity if not for the dramatic circumstances of his death when he was just 25. Lockyer was probably born in Bishopsgate, London, and joined the parliamentarian army in 1642, the year in which civil war broke out between King Charles I and the Long Parliament.

Lockyer was a Leveller, a group that was considered radical even in the English republic established after the execution of Charles I in 1649. They were the first democratic movement in Britain, demanding universal manhood suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance. Their ideas were influential in the American and French revolutions, and they continue to inspire activists.

London was politically volatile after Charles’ execution, and some units of the army were moved outside the city to separate them from Leveller influence. Lockyer’s regiment was already restless, and when the order was given to move to Essex on the 26^th April 1649 Lockyer and the other men under Captain John Savage refused to leave. They took the troop’s colours and barricaded themselves in The Bull Inn, a well-known radical meeting place. Captain Savage found them and ordered them back, but they refused unless they were paid a fortnight’s wages with arrears. Lockyer was singled out with a direct order to obey, but still he refused.

Eventually the Commander-in-chief of the Army, Sir Thomas Fairfax, and Oliver Cromwell himself arrived, and everyone was arrested. The 6 ringleaders, including Lockyer, were sentenced to death. Lockyer was the only one who was executed though, by firing squad in St Paul’s Churchyard the next day. He became a martyr for the Leveller cause, and his funeral was attended by 4000 Londoners wearing black and sea green (the colour of the Levellers) ribbons, a powerful show of force for the Leveller cause.

Robert Lockyer was not rich, famous, or politically powerful. Yet as a result of his actions he is still remembered nearly four centuries later, and out of the 3000 skeletons expected to be dug up during the Crossrail excavation, his is the one causing excitement. Neither Lockyer nor the Levellers managed to achieve their goals, and he and many others suffered a great deal for their beliefs. However he proved an inspiration for many activists and campaigners since, and it is impossible to tell how many successful campaigns his story played a role in motivating.

Sources and Further Reading

Benn, Tony. ‘The Levellers and the Tradition of Dissent.’ BBC History. Last modified 17^th February 2011, accessed 9^th February 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/benn_levellers_01.shtml

Gentles, Ian J. ‘Lockyer, Robert (1625/6–1649)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004, accessed 9th February 2015 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/47102

Keys, David. ‘Could Crossrail have uncovered the last resting place of Britain’s left-wing martyr in Bedlam burial ground under Liverpool Street station?’ Independent. Published February 9^th 2015, accessed February 9^th 2015. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/could-crossrail-have-uncovered-the-last-resting-place-of-britains-leftwing-martyr-in-bedlam-burial-ground-under-liverpool-street-station-10032619.html

Sea Green Society, The. ‘For the Liberties of England…’ The Sea Green Society. Last modified 18th August 2009, accessed 9th February 2015. https://seagreensociety.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/for-the-liberties-of-england/

The March for Homes

Today I took part in the March for Homes, a demonstration calling for more affordable housing in London. There were 2 marches, starting in Elephant and Castle and Shoreditch, that met at Tower Bridge and then proceeded to City Hall for a rally. In this post are some of the photos I took of the event, with a few of my reflections thrown in.

The marchers starting to gather in Elephant and Castle (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

I was on the march starting in Elephant and Castle, because I live in the area, and I see the effects of the housing crisis every day. There are at least 2 major developments going on there at the moment; One the Elephant, which can be seen in the above photo, and the redevelopment of the former Heygate Estate. The amount of social housing that is included in these two developments is tiny, and laughably insignificant. The housing crisis in London is something that I feel very strongly about. I am lucky enough to have funding for my PhD and no dependents, so I can afford housing quite easily. But there are many thousands who are not so fortunate, and although I love London, I know that I won’t be living here long term, because the city is simply not affordable, even if you manage to get a decent job.

Large groups often provide placards for demonstrations, like this made by the Socialist Workers Party (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

A speaker at Elephant and Castle from the National Union of Teachers. — A speaker at Elephant and Castle from the National Union of Teachers (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

Speakers at Elephant and Castle included many representatives from local housing campaigns. I believe that the fundamental cause of the housing crisis is that housing in London is viewed primarily as an investment. Houses and flats are bought as a means of making money, and the owners don’t even need to bother renting them out, because prices are rising so fast that they can make plenty of money anyway, just by selling them on after a year or two. The fundamental purpose of housing is providing a space of safety and warmth, but this has been forgotten, or is ignored, by those in charge. As a result, people suffer.

Another placard at Elephant and Castle (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

The march set off towards the empty wasteland that used to be the Heygate Estate. — The march set off towards the empty wasteland that used to be the Heygate Estate (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

The south route of the March for Homes went through several large areas of social housing (Source: March for Homes, 2014).

We marched through several large council housing estates on the way to City Hall. These are the areas in which people are directly affected by the crisis, and I hope that some of those took heart from the sight of us processing down the streets in the rain. Protests can be an expression of solidarity as well as a method of publicising a cause, and I hope that we did both today.

The march went right through the middle of what used to be the Heygate Estate (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

Many groups were represented at the March for Homes. — Many groups were represented at the March for Homes (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

Some creative editing of a hoarding for a development by L&Q (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

A placard in front of Tower Bridge, one of London’s most famous landmarks (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

This was very much a London-focussed demonstration. The marches culminated at City Hall, the seat of power for London, rather than Parliament Square, the seat of power for the UK. Housing is a problem in many places across the country, but today was specifically about London. The protest aimed to get the attention of the government of London, not the government of the UK, and this was reflected in the routes and locations of the demonstration.

Some placards were home made, but these are often the most creative (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

Anarchist groups also took part in the demonstration (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

The rally at City Hall, although I doubt Boris Johnson was listening from his office. — The rally at City Hall- I wonder if Boris Johnson was listening from his office (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

Despite the foul weather, I really enjoyed myself today. It was my first protest in a while, and I’m glad that it went off peacefully for my own sake, even if it perhaps means we won’t get any major news coverage. After I left, a breakaway group occupied some empty council houses on the Aylesbury Estate in elephant and Castle, and I will be following events there carefully. The housing crisis in London is a very real problem, and it needs to be tackled. Nothing will happen overnight, and the March for Homes is just one step in a process that will, in all likelihood, be very long. But I’m glad I was there, standing up to be counted for something I believe in.

Turbulent Londoners: Claudia Jones, 1915–1964

Turbulent Londoners is a series of posts about radical individuals in London’s history who contributed to the city’s contentious past. My definition of ‘Londoner’ is quite loose, anyone who has played a role in protest in the city can be included. Any suggestions for future Turbulent Londoners posts are very welcome. The third Londoner in the series would probably get on well with the previous Turbulent Londoner, Charlotte Despard. Claudia Jones was a black equal rights activist, and is known as the mother of the Notting Hill Carnival.

Claudia Jones was featured in the 2008 Women of Distinction series of British postal stamps (Source: Royal Mail).

Claudia Jones was an influential campaigner for London’s Caribbean community from the mid-1950s until her death a decade later. She is known as ‘the mother of Notting Hill Carnival’, and founded The West Indian Gazette, the first newspaper printed in London for the Black community. Born in Trinidad, she was deported to the UK from America after being imprisoned for ‘un-American activities.’ She continued to campaign right up until her death in 1964.

Claudia Jones was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1915. Her family emigrated to New York City when she was 9, where they unfortunately remained poor. When she was 17, Claudia caught tuberculosis, which irreparably damaged her lungs, troubling her for the rest of her life. Despite this ill health she became a committed campaigner, joining the American Communist party in 1936. She proved to be a talented journalist, in 1945, she became the youngest staff member for the Daily Worker, as the ‘Negro Affairs’ editor.

As well as writing, Claudia organised youth, Civil Rights and religious groups as well as immigrant rights committees. She was a victim of McCarthyism after World War II, and was deported in 1955. Trinidad refused to accept her, and she was eventually offered asylum in Britain in October.

Claudia arrived in the UK at a time of massive immigration from the Caribbean. Many of the new immigrants were discriminated against by landlords, shopkeepers, employers and even the government because of their colour. Finding that many British Communists were hostile to a black woman, Claudia became a key leader in the African-Caribbean community, organising access to basic facilities, as well as taking an active role in the early campaign for racial equality.

From her work in the US, Claudia knew it was important for minority groups to have a voice, so in 1958 she founded The West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News, and edited it until her death 6 years later. Anti-racist and anti-imperialist, the paper provided a forum for the discussion of civil rights, and reported news that was frequently overlooked by the mainstream media.

In August 1958 racial riots occurred in Notting Hill in London and Robin Hood Chase in Nottingham. Claudia and several other leaders of the British black community were concerned by the racist analysis of the riots in the British media. She recognised the need to improve relations between different local communities, so she helped to organise the first Mardi-Gras style Caribbean carnival in St Pancras Town Hall in January 1959. It was a big event, and televised nationally by the BBC. Claudia and The West Indian Gazette also arranged five other annual indoor Caribbean Carnivals in London, which are seen as precursors to the Notting Hill Carnival, one of the most popular events in London’s calendar.

Claudia was one of the founders of what became the Notting Hill Carnival, which is still going strong today (Source: Rob Schofield).

Claudia died on Christmas Eve 1964, when she was just 49. Despite struggling with the impacts of tuberculosis for much of her short life, she faced the dual disadvantages of being female and black with confidence, becoming a successful journalist and respected community leader and activist. She didn’t chose to move to London but she embraced her new home with gusto, fighting hard to make the city a better place for its burgeoning black community.

Sources

Azikiwe, Abayomi. “Claudia Jones Defied Racism, Sexism and Class Oppression.” Workers World. Last modified February 6, 2013, accessed January 15, 2015. http://www.workers.org/articles/2013/02/06/claudia-jones-defied-racism-sexism-and-class-oppression/

“Claudia Jones.” Wikipedia. No date, accessed January 15, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Jones

“Claudia Jones Honoured on Postage Stamp.” The Cocoa Diaries. Last modified October 20, 2008, accessed January 23, 2015. http://cocoadiaries.com/uncategorized/claudia-jones-honoured-on-postage-stamp/

“Claudia Jones ‘the Mother of the Notting Hill Carnival.” Black History Month. No date, accessed January 15, 2015. http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/claudia-jones/4566344886

Foster, Kimberly. “27 Black Women Activists Everyone Should Know.” For Harriet. Last modified February 28, 2014, accessed January 15, 2015. http://www.forharriet.com/2014/02/27-black-women-activists-everyone.html

“Home” The London Notting Hill Carnival. No date, accessed January 23, 2015 http://thelondonnottinghillcarnival.com/

“Jones, Claudia.” Exploring 20^th Century. No date, accessed January 23, 2015. http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/jones-claudia

Trafalgar Square ‘Unity Rally’: My Thoughts

Trafalgar Square on Sunday evening (Photo: Graeme Awcock).

The French flag was projected onto the National Gallery (Photo: Graeme Awcock).

On Sunday afternoon, I was in Trafalgar Square during the vigil expressing sympathy and solidarity for Paris in the wake of the shocking events of the past week. The global condemnation of the shootings in Paris were instantaneous, and deafening. Gatherings took place around the world on Sunday to commemorate those who died and celebrate free speech. In London, several landmarks were lit up in the colours of the French flag including Tower Bridge and the National Gallery. People also gathered in several places including the French Embassy and Trafalgar Square. I don’t really know what to call what took place in Trafalgar Square, it seemed simultaneously to be protest, memorial and vigil. The BBC describe it as a ‘unity rally,’ but that doesn’t feel quite right to me either. It was obviously officially sanctioned and organised; Nelson’s column had been fenced off so that the French flag could be projected onto the National Gallery. To me, it felt like an expression of solidarity, sympathy and defiance. There were clearly lots of French people there, so it had a more personal feeling of grief too.

The location of such gatherings are not insignificant, so it is important to consider why such events occur in the places that they do. Boyle makes a valid point, and it is true that Parliament Square is regulated by specific laws that do not apply anywhere else in the country. I do think that there has been an attempt to depoliticise events in Paris, or at least situate them outside of the normal party politics. Commentators across the political spectrum have been quick to rush to the defence of free speech, although of course free speech is mediated and limited by laws and the government, so it is a political issue. Therefore there may have been a conscious effort not to involve Parliament Square in Sunday’s events, to try and maintain their apolitical status.

As ever however, I think it is more complicated than that. Trafalgar Square has been a focus for large gatherings of people since it’s completion in the mid nineteenth century. Public events range from Bloody Sunday in 1887 t0 the celebration of London being chosen for the 2012 Olympics in 2005. The square has been a focus of public life in London for the last two centuries, so a less cynical interpretation of events is that it just didn’t occur to people to gather anywhere else. On balance, I think it is probably a combination of these reasons.

The fountains in Trafalgar Square were lit with the colours of the French flag (Photo: Graeme Awcock).

The gathering in Trafalgar Square on Sunday was not a typical protest. There were no demands, no chants, no placards. It was less subdued that a vigil, too quiet to be a rally, and less ceremonial than a memorial. Whatever it was, it was a powerful expression of unity and solidarity, and I’m glad I was there.

Turbulent Londoners: Charlotte Despard, 1844-1939

Turbulent Londoners is a series of posts about radical individuals in London’s history who contributed to the city’s contentious past. My definition of ‘Londoner’ is quite loose, anyone who has played a role in protest in the city can be included. Any suggestions for future Turbulent Londoners posts are very welcome. The second Londoner to be profiled is Charlotte Despard, an inspirational pacifist, feminist and socialist campaigner.

Charlotte Despard (née French)
attributed to Charles Mendelssohn Horsfall
oil on canvas
NPG 4345
© National Portrait Gallery, London

Charlotte Despard was a prominent feminist and social campaigner in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who fought for many causes during her long life. Born into a wealthy French family in Kent in 1844, she married in 1870. She was brought up as a young Victorian lady should be, and frequently railed against her lack of a proper education. After her husband died in 1890, she became a dedicated and inspiring campaigner, although she was well known for her simple black clothing for the rest of her life.

Despard organised and funded a health clinic, a soup kitchen for the unemployed and youth and working men’s clubs in the slum called Nine Elms in Battersea, London. Not content with mere philanthropy, she actually moved into the area, living amongst those she worked so hard to help. In 1894 she became a Poor Law Guardian in Lambeth, a job at which she excelled, using her position to care for the most vulnerable ‘paupers’.

Politically, Despard was an active supporter of the Social Democratic Party and the Independent Labour Party, running in the 1918 general election as a pacifist Labour candidate for Battersea. By the time the Women’s Social and Political Union moved to London in 1906, she was a well-known progressive speaker, and an obvious choice for an ally. She became the WSPU’s honorary secretary, and was imprisoned twice in 1907 for her actions as a suffragette, at the age of 63. However, later that year the Suffragette movement split, and Despard became President of the Women’s Freedom League, which unlike the WSPU was democratically organised and advocated a campaign of passive resistance.

Charlotte Despard (née French); Anne Cobden-Sanderson with three unknown men
by Unknown photographer
halftone postcard print, 19 August 1909
NPG x45197
© National Portrait Gallery, London

Despard was a pacifist, opposing the Boer War and World War One, despite her brother, Sir John French, being the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France until 1915. The two remained close throughout the First World War, until Charlotte declared her support of Irish home rule and later independence. As the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Sir John French was tasked with trying to supress the very people she supported, and their previously close relationship suffered badly. In 1921 she moved to Ireland, where she continued to campaign for civil rights and the relief of poverty and distress. Despite her advanced years, she was classed as a dangerous subversive under the Irish Free State’s 1927 Public Safety Act. In 1933 her house in Dublin was attacked by an anti-communist mob.

As if all that wasn’t enough, Despard was also active in promoting a variety of other causes, including Save the Children, the Indian independence movement, theosophy, and the London Vegetarian Society. She died after a fall at the age of 95, but left behind an enduring legacy. Charlotte Despard was a confident, strong-willed, independent woman, who frequently defied convention and suffered hardship to fight for what she believed in. She is an inspiration.

Sources

History Today. http://www.historytoday.com/sites/default/files/despard1.jpg (accessed 12/11/14).

Hochschild, Adam. To End All Wars: A Story of Protest and Patriotism in the First World War. London: Pan Books, 2011.

Mulvihill, Margaret. ‘Despard, Charlotte (1844–1939)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2014 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37356, accessed 12 Nov 2014.

Open University, The. ‘Charlotte Despard.’ Making Britain (no date) http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/charlotte-despard (accessed 12/11/14).

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (no date) http://www.oxforddnb.com/images/article-imgs/37/37356_1_200px.jpg (accessed 12/11/14).

“Those Meddling Kids!”: Student Protest in London in the Twentieth Century

The Scooby Doo gang are often called ‘meddling kids’ by the people they unmask (Source: Krusty Da Clown).

When the Scooby Doo gang unmasked the dastardly villain at the end of each episode, they always lamented “I would have got away with it too, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids, and their dumb dog!” Apart from the dog, I think the gang have a lot in common with the students and young people of London, who have been holding those in authority to account for decades, despite their tender years.

The student demonstrations over tuition fees and the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in 2010 are still fresh in the minds of many. Students from secondary schools, sixth form colleges and universities made their opinions on the government’s plans to raise tuition fees and scrap EMA known in no uncertain terms. As well as the national marches in central London in November and December, there were countless occupations and smaller demonstrations throughout the capital and across the UK.

The 2010 Student Tuition Fee Demonstrations shocked many in their scale and violence (Source: Sarah).

But student protest in the capital did not begin with the debate over tuition fees and EMA. The very first student occupation took place at the London School of Economics in 1967, in protest at the appointment of a director who had previously been director of the University College in racist Rhodesia. LSE was occupied again the following year to provide accommodation for a huge Vietnam march. Also in 1968, the Revolutionary Socialist Students’ Federation was formed after a conference at LSE, which had obviously become a focus of radical left-wing politics amongst university students.

Some students did not wait until they got to university to make their voices heard. in 1889 and 1911 there were waves of national school strikes, as children struggled with the authorities over compulsory schooling. Usually sparked by a student being punished too severely, the strikes focussed on issues such as the school day, corporal punishment, holidays, the school leaving age, and unpleasant teachers. Schoolchildren would use pickets, marches and demonstrations to get their point across. Such strikes continued in London until 1939. They were mostly met with amusement by the authorities, but some considered them a serious threat, attributing the strikes to class divisions as well as generational ones.

Whether because of the confidence or idealism of youth, or for the more practical reasons of having more free time and fewer responsibilities or dependents than adults, London’s youth does seem to be particularly riotous. For a section of society that are frequently accused of being apathetic and disengaged, they have proved themselves to be quite the opposite, time and again. Many of them were too young to vote when they took part in their protests, but that did not stop them engaging with the political process in any way that they could.

Sources and further reading

Bloom, Clive. Violent London: 2000 Years of Riots, Rebels and Revolts. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

German, Lindsey, and John Rees. A People’s History of London. London: Verso, 2012.

On this Day: Bloody Sunday, 13th November 1887

There are several events which are remembered with the name ‘Bloody Sunday,’ perhaps most famously Sunday the 30^th of January 1972 when members of the British Army opened fire on protesters in Derry, Ireland, killing 13. London has its own Bloody Sunday however, which took place on Sunday the 13^th of November 1887, in Trafalgar Square. It was the culmination of months of increasing tension between police and Londoners over the right to demonstrate in Trafalgar Square.

Demonstrations by the unemployed had been taking place in the square daily since the summer. Many unemployed men and women also slept in the square, washing in the fountains. Under pressure from the press to deal with a situation seen as embarrassing to the great metropolis, the police started to disperse meetings in the square from the 17^th of October, often resorting to violence. The tension continued, now with frequent clashes between police and protesters, and Irish Home Rulers also began to use the square to protest.

Sir Charles Warren, Commissioner of Police, banned all meetings in Trafalgar Square on the 8^th of November. This challenge to the freedom of speech and the right to protest ouraged radicals across London, and a meeting scheduled for the following Sunday suddenly became much more significant. Called initially to demand the release of the Irish MP William O’Brien from prison, the demonstration was a clear and deliberate defiance of the ban, and the police could not allow it to go ahead without suffering severe humiliation.

Sir Charles Warren was Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police when Bloody Sunday took place.
Sir Charles Warren
by Elliott & Fry
albumen cabinet card, circa 1899
NPG x39345
© National Portrait Gallery, London

On the day of the demonstration, London was turned into “an armed camp” (Bloom, 2010; 223). 1,500 police lined the square up to 4 deep, and there were also mounted police, Life Guards and Grenadier Guards. Hundreds of Special Constables, volunteers who wanted peace maintained in their city, were also present. Marchers approached Trafalgar Square from all directions, but were ambushed by police baton charges about half a mile before they reached their destination.

Some protesters did manage to reach the square, where vicious street fighting continued all day. The day was a resounding victory for the police. Using no weapons but their truncheons, they injured at least 200 demonstrators, and killed 2 or 3. The organisers of the march had called for the demonstrators not to use violence, and injuries on the police side were therefore minimal, although 2 police officers were reportedly stabbed.

The official inquest into the day suggested that the police should order stronger truncheons, because so many had broken; clearly the authorities felt no qualms about the level of force used. For activists, Bloody Sunday would be remembered as one of heavy-handed, violent repression, and those protesters who died became martyrs for the labour movement.

Sources and further reading

Bloom, Clive. Violent London: 2000 Years of Riots, Rebels and Revolts. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

German, Lindsey and John Rees. A People’s History of London. London: Verso, 2012.

Stedman Jones, Gareth. Outcast London: A Study in the Relationship between Classes in Victorian Society. London: Penguin, 1984.

White, Jerry. London in the 19^th Century. London: Vintage, 2008.

Guy Fawkes: Terrorist or Freedom Fighter?

Remember, remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason, why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, guy, t’was his intent

To blow up king and parliament.

Three score barrels were laid below

To prove old England’s overthrow.

By God’s mercy he was catch’d

With a darkened lantern and burning match.

The Gunpowder Plot Conspirators
after Heinrich Ulrich
etching, late 18th to early 19th century
NPG D28145
© National Portrait Gallery, London

Bonfire Night, Fireworks Night, Guy Fawkes Night; there are several names for the celebrations which take place on the 5^th of November every year. For most it is an evening of bonfires, fireworks, sparklers, hot drinks and cold noses. Its origins are rather more sinister though. The tradition started on the 5^th of November 1605, when Londoners lit bonfires across the city to celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot. It is a story familiar to many, largely due to the celebration of Guy Fawkes Night. A group of Catholics had planned to assassinate the Protestant King James I and his Parliament by blowing up the House of Commons. Guy Fawkes was caught guarding the barrels of gunpowder, and has become by far the most well-known of the conspirators.

Largely secular now, the annual celebrations became a focus of anti-Catholic feeling. Although Guy Fawkes was executed by being hung, drawn, and quartered, one tradition surrounding the evening is to burn a ‘Guy’ in effigy on the bonfire. It is no longer a common part of the celebrations, but it demonstrates how strong anti-Catholic sentiment used to be. Guy Fawkes was viewed as a traitorous, treasonous terrorist, and treated accordingly.

In the past few decades however, Guy Fawkes has received a new lease of life in the form of the Guy Fawkes mask worn by the main character of the graphic novel V for Vendetta. Set in a dystopic 1984-style future, V is a mysterious man in a mask that sparks a popular insurrection that brings down the fascist, authoritarian government. One of his first acts in the novel is to succeed where Guy Fawkes failed, blowing up the houses of Parliament in spectacular fashion. V dies towards the end of the novel but others take up his mask, and his true identity is never revealed, turning him a symbolic figure of just rebellion. Initially unpopular when it was first published in the early 1980s, V for Vendetta has increased in popularity in recent years, perhaps due to its adaptation into a film in 2006. The Guy Fawkes masks have become a common feature of protests and demonstrations, serving both a symbolic purpose as the spirit of rebellion, and a practical one in helping to hide the faces and identities of protesters from police. In this context, Guy Fawkes is a hero who fought, and won, against overwhelming odds. He is a freedom fighter.

DSCF5728 — The ‘V for Vendetta’ mask has become a common sight at demonstrations in recent years (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

I have been thinking about the phrase ‘One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’ a lot recently. ‘Terrorism’ has felt almost ubiquitous in the Western world over the last decade or so of the War on Terror, but it is an incredibly subjective term. The same act can be perceived as mindless violence or just necessity, depending on the attitude of those perceiving it. The changing perceptions of Guy Fawkes proves this. I am in no way condoning the way that some people choose to resort to extreme violence in order to make their point, but I do think we should be aware of the complex and subjective nature of the term ‘terrorist’, and should use it accordingly.