The campaign forwomen's suffrage sought to secure the right of women to vote in elections. It was carried out by both men and women; it was a very prolonged and gruelling campaign that went on for 86 years before theRepresentation of the People Act 1918 was introduced on 6 February 1918, which gave some women the right to vote.[1]
One of the first three UK societies supporting women's rights to vote was established in 1867, in Scotland's capital, theEdinburgh National Society for Women's Suffrage.[2]
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Later Scotland'ssuffragettes were part of the BritishWomen's Social and Political Union militant movement and took part in campaigns locally and in London; for example whenWinston Churchill arrived to stand for election asM.P. inDundee in 1908 he was followed by 27 of the national leaders of the women's suffrage movements. At one point he even hid in a shed and tried to host a meeting there.[3]
Scottish women likeFlora Drummond had leadership roles with thePankhursts, in the London WSPU headquarters, and celebrated the Scottish community of activists on their release from prison.[4] Others likeFrances Parker fromNew Zealand, were organising the West of Scotland WSPU and like others was infamously subjected toforce feeding orally and rectally in Scottish[5] and British prisons.[6] Parker was also arrested when trying to disruptDavid Lloyd George from giving a speech in theMusic Hall inAberdeen,[7] and allegedly set fire toBurns Cottage in Alloway, Ayrshire.[8]
There were many Scottish women across all classes who took an active role in the movement to draw attention to the growing demands for equal right to Votes for Women.
Scottish branches of theNational Union of Women's Suffrage Societies were active in the main cities and even in the rural and remote areas such asDornoch,[9][10] in the Highlands,Stornoway with 27 women forming a suffrageassociation,[11] from the remote Western Isles (theHebrides), as well as NUWSSOrcadian group[12] inOrkney and aShetland suffrage society.[13]
In 2024, only one accessible image of a (known) black Scottish suffragistJessie M. Soga, who was also a soprano singer, has been identified, and is it unclear if there were other Scottish women of colour campaigning for the vote. Dr. TS Beall said Scotland's suffragists' and suffragettes' activities were 'not taught much' in Scottish schools, and their names were not generally known.[14]
Soga was included in a new educational game (Top Trumps-style) calledScotland's Suffragettes Trumps cards, created byProtests & Suffragettes (an organisation led by artists, activists and local historians including Dr. Beall). This was created bycrowdfunding to send 700 sets to schools across Scotland.[14] One hundredScotland's Suffrage History Education Packs, explaining the movement, and including the cards were sent to Scottish schools.[14]Women's History Scotland'sDr. Yvonne McFadden called it 'a fun and important tool to make sure these women and their stories' are included in theScottish school curriculum, as women's history is often limited in a school's history teaching.[14] The impact of these materials was discussed onBorders TV, including the recognition by primary school children that 'change makers' were based in their own communities inKelso andStranraer.[15]
Aninteractive map of the specific places associated with the women's suffrage movement inAberdeen and area, is available which shows how connected the women in this area were with the wider suffrage movement and in leadership roles.[16] This was included into Wikipedia articles at aCodeTheCity, civic open data event[17] called #CTC28 connectionseditathon in March 2023. And further details on activists for suffrage for women in Scotland were added through monthlyWomen in Red editathons atEdinburgh University since the centenary of women's right to vote.[18]
Scottish SuffragettesJessie Soga andHelen Crawfurd were memorialised in 2024 in stained glass window[19] by ArtistKeira McLean in Glasgow's Woodside Library.[20] The window was co-designed with young people from SiMY Community Development in Townhead.[21] McLean said "there are so many forgotten histories of people who made a real difference',[21] and that the window is "restoring the neglected histories of communities often marginalised or dismissed.”[20] The unveiling of the window took place at an event hosted byGlasgow Life on 5 September 2024 and featured new musical arrangements by Musician Lorna Morgan of theHolloway Jingles, poems written by imprisoned suffragettes.[21] Historical information about Jessie Soga and Helen Crawfurd was shared by Clare Thompson fromProtests and Suffragettes.[20]
In 2025, an exhibition in Glasgow, marks the influence of suffragette, politician and local councillor,Jessie Stephen. The materials displayed include items loaned by her great-niece and local history shared atMaryhill Burgh Halls by women's historian,Anabel Marsh.[22]
