The Great Suffrage Pilgrimages impact on the future of feminism

How did the events of the 1913 suffrage pilgrimage impact the future of the first wave
feminist movement?

Suffrage rallies before the suffrage pilgrimage of 1913 were often militant, as a
means to raise awareness to the mistreatment of women, however the suffrage
pilgrimage of 1913 served as a wide-spread demonstration “that there are thousands
of law-abiding women who believe that it is only just and right that women as well as
men should be allowed to vote”. First wave feminism is often remembered for the
militancy of those that supported it. Prior to the suffrage pilgrimage of 1913, this militancy
was necessary for their complaints to be recognized by both governing bodies and the
media, however this also led to the women’s right movement in this time being labelled as
“violent” and “extreme”. The 1913 suffrage pilgrimage served as evidence that there were
tens of thousands of women that held the same opinions of the militant feminists at the
time but harboured no violence or extremism.

Prior to the events of the first wave of feminism, the role of women in society was that of
complete subservience to men. Whether subservient to their husband, father, or brother, it
was incredibly rare for a woman prior to the first wave of feminism to have any
independence. It was the goal of the suffragette movement however to advocate for voting
rights for women, as well as more rights than to be completely subservient to men. The
suffrage pilgrimage was one of the largest peaceful women’s rights protests of the first wave
of feminism. Despite this, they were often met with violence and hostility from people at
the locations that they travelled through. The United Kingdom’s national archives website
contains a plethora of information regarding the events that transpired during the women’s
suffrage pilgrimage, as well as quotes of numerous unnamed women who experienced the
pilgrimage firsthand. A report by the NUWSS at the time goes into great detail about how
“in instances such as these [instances of violence against the suffragists] there was a
tendency for Chief Constables to downplay reports of mob violence as ‘horseplay’, offering
contradictory accounts of the incidents and suggesting that the more extreme reports were
exaggerations.” This highlights the fact that despite the peaceful and non-militant behaviour
of the pilgrimaging suffragists, they were often met with violence and hostility from the
residents of the locations that they travelled through, and police officers rarely acted to
prevent this violence. This source works in corroboration with the Google Arts and Culture
webpage about the pilgrimage that “Many received warm receptions but there were many
hostile encounters.” Therefore, verifying these claims. These sources both show a
substantial amount of corroboration between each other and other trustworthy sources,
meaning that these two sources can also be considered trustworthy, therefore the
testimonies of suffrage pilgrims can likewise be trusted. As seen in numerous recounts of
protestors that attend the suffrage pilgrimage, it was not uncommon for the pilgrims to be
met with hostility from locations that they were travelling through, and often law
enforcement downplayed this hostility, often times not acting at all.
The purpose of the suffrage pilgrimage was to create widespread awareness of the fact that
tens of thousands of women from the United Kingdom held the same values and beliefs of
the militant suffragists, yet they were non-militant, and peaceful. The Google Arts and
Culture webpage about the pilgrimage states that “The pilgrimage was intended to counter
the militancy of the suffragettes, and show that women could be disciplined and law-abiding
on a large-scale.” And that the demonstration was organised by the National Union of
Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), with over 50,000 attendees. Author and historian
Jane Robinson wrote that Prime Minister H.H. Asquith said “If you can prove that the
‘ordinary women’ of this nation want a vote, he told Mrs Fawcett, then I will listen to you.
By the time the Pilgrimage was over, he admitted that not only had they succeeded in that;
they had shown - at a time when militant suffragette action was at its height - that women
could be resolute, dignified and inspiring. ‘Perhaps women are people after all,’ he
grudgingly admitted” this demonstrates the significance and notoriety of this
demonstration, being so influential as to warrant direct recognition from the Prime Minister
himself. The corroboration between these two sources combined with the trustworthy
reputation of Jane Robinson validates both of these sources as reliable and historically
accurate. As seen above, the 1913 suffrage pilgrimage served as one of the largest scale
peaceful women’s rights protests of the first wave of feminism. with organization from the
NUWSS, knowledge of the pilgrimage reached far across the United Kingdom, allowing for
tens of thousands of women to show their support in a non-militant way.

Throughout the United Kingdom at the time of this pilgrimage, the rights of women were
extremely limited, and governing bodies from the majority of the areas that the pilgrims
travelled through held views directly opposing those of the pilgrims. This led to minimal
support from law enforcement and governing bodies when it came to hostile encounters.
Although the actions of the pilgrims were not directly breaking any laws of the locations that
they travelled through, the already abysmal women’s rights of these areas led to things such
as distasteful reception being common. The Women’s Suffrage Pilgrimage Report from June
and July 1913 states that “Police quite inadequate in number, but also deliberately
abstained from interference and stood by laughing and shrugging their shoulders. One of
them was heard to say, “They’re asking for it, let them have it”” This in corroboration with
the firsthand recounts of Helen Moyes’ and Gwen Coleman’s stating that “we were often
met with hostility” validates the idea that support from law enforcement was minimal,
despite violence and hostility towards the pilgrims being common. We can validate the
authority of these sources, as the United Kingdom National Archives identifies the Women’s
Suffrage Pilgrimage Report from June and July 1913 as a reputable source, and it has been
previously confirmed that the firsthand recounts of these events by the pilgrims are
reputable. It was likely that the pilgrims were met with hostility due to the commonly held
beliefs, as well as the societal and cultural norms, and due to the fact that governing bodies
of these areas were more likely to show support to those meeting the pilgrims with hostility,
law enforcement often downplayed the hostility, or redirected the blame onto the pilgrims
through claims such as “they were disturbing the police” this demonstrated the public
perception of the feminist movement, being that of extreme distaste and hostility.
Whilst the pilgrimage managed to achieve its primary purpose of being recognised and
acknowledged by prime minister H.H. Asquith, it bought about no direct change to
legislation. Author and historian Jane Robinson wrote that Prime Minister H.H. Asquith said
“If you can prove that the ‘ordinary women’ of this nation want a vote, he told Mrs Fawcett,
then I will listen to you. By the time the Pilgrimage was over, he admitted that not only had
they succeeded in that; they had shown - at a time when militant suffragette action was at
its height - that women could be resolute, dignified and inspiring. ‘Perhaps women are
people after all,’ he grudgingly admitted” This led many suffragists following the pilgrimage
to believe that the prime minister was intending to pass legislation that would give women
the right to vote, however Collaborative Organization for Virtual Education (COVE), states
that “The Conciliation bill to give women the right to vote were brought up during his [Prime
Minister Asquith] time as Prime Minister and while promising that there would be facilities
for a bill such as this in Parliament, he instead favored a bill for universal manhood
suffrage.” This led to the suffragettes rightfully blaming H.H. Asquith for this legislation not
being passed. COVE is a scholar-driven open-access platform, meaning that contributors to
this site are certified scholars that have had their work peer reviewed by other historians,
and is therefore trustworthy, whilst Jane Robinson can be considered trustworthy due to
her reputation as an author and historian. Whilst it is true that this pilgrimage bought about
no direct change for legislation, it is likely that it did significantly improved the general
public’s opinion of women’s rights activists, as after roughly 5 years, change of legislation
did occur, and without displaying the fact that peaceful, non-militant women held the same
beliefs as those that were. It is likely that if not for demonstrations of this, legislation would
take longer to show support of women’s rights. Although this large-scale pilgrimage bought
about no direct change to legislation, it is highly likely that peaceful demonstrations such as
these improved public opinions of the women’s rights activists.

Prior to 1913, suffrage rallies were often militant and unruly as a means to raise awareness.
to the mistreatment of women. The suffrage pilgrimage of 1913 on the other hand served as
a wide-spread demonstration “that there are thousands of law-abiding women who believe
that it is only just and right that women as well as men should be allowed to vote”. The
suffrage pilgrimage served as an extremely influential, wide-spread demonstration of the
belief that tens of thousands of non-militant women shared, that they deserved suffrage.
The tenacity and persistence that these pilgrims showed even when met with hostility from
the residents of the locations that travelled through and shown a complete disregard by law
enforcement. Demonstrations such as these would prove to be invaluable to the women’s
suffrage movement and the first wave of feminism, as demonstrations such as these
showed the public that suffrage is something that even the non-militant women want. And
without this positive public opinion, change may take much longer to occur.
Bibliography:

COVE. 2018. H.H. Asquith as Prime Minister.

https://editions.covecollective.org/chronologies/hh-asquith-prime-minister. Accessed 1
September 2021

Google Arts and Culture. 2017. Women's Suffrage Pilgrimage.

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/women-s-suffrage-pilgrimage-lse-library/
awKCZ7Ey--82Jw?hl=en. Accessed 1 September 2021

Jane. R. 2018. The Great Pilgrimage: 100 years of women marching for their rights.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2019/feb/great-pilgrimage-100-years-of-women-
marching.html. Accessed 3 September 2021

Vicky. I. 2016. The 1913 Suffrage Pilgrimage: peaceful protest and local disorder.
https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/the-1913-suffrage-pilgrimage-peaceful-protest-and-
local-disorder/#return-note-41532-4. Accessed 29 August 2021