| Great Pilgrimage | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part offirst-wave feminism | |||
 Katherine Harley addresses a meeting atOlton during the Great Pilgrimage. | |||
| Date | 18 June – 26 July 1913 | ||
| Location | Marchers converged onHyde Park, London, England 51°30′31″N0°09′49″W / 51.508611°N 0.163611°W /51.508611; -0.163611 | ||
| Caused by | Fight forwomen's suffrage | ||
| Methods | Demonstrations, marches | ||
| Parties | |||
| Lead figures | |||
Millicent Fawcett (NUWSS) Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith | |||
TheGreat Pilgrimage of 1913 was a march in Britain bysuffragists campaigningnonviolently forwomen's suffrage, organised by theNational Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Women marched to London from all around England and Wales and 50,000 attended a rally inHyde Park.[1][2][3][4][5]
The idea for the march was first put forward byKatherine Harley at an NUWSS subcommittee meeting in London on 17 April 1913.[6]: 148 Plans were rapidly drawn up, and publicised through the NUWSS newsletterCommon Cause, for six routes along which marchers would converge on London for a rally in Hyde Park on 26 July 1913. These were named the Great North Route (fromNewcastle andEast Anglia); theWatling Street Route (fromCarlisle,Manchester and north Wales); the West Country Route (fromLand's End and south Wales); theBournemouth Route; thePortsmouth Route; and theKentish Pilgrim Way.[6]: xxi, 152
The first marchers set off on 18 June, allowing six weeks to reach London from Carlisle and Newcastle.[6]: xxi, 153 Each contingent was preceded by banners declaring the march to be law-abiding and non-militant, clarifying the stance of the NUWSS compared to the militancy of theWSPU.[6]: xxi, 153 Women of all classes joined the march, including Lady Rochdale (wife ofGeorge Kemp, 1st Baron Rochdale), who marched from Carlisle to London[6]: 318 and Scottish suffragist and politician,Helen Fraser, who marched with the Welsh contingent including the Liberal Party politician,Aneurin Williams.[7]
The march was organised in great detail. Advance information provided to marchers included a "village-by-village itinerary" with details about accommodation and facilities. A single piece of luggage per person would be transported, there were daily roll calls, and marchers were asked to wear rosettes in green, white and red - not the purple of the suffragettes. Some marchers brought horse-drawn caravans to accommodate themselves en route, while others stayed with local supporters or were found other accommodation. Marchers were welcome to join the pilgrimage for as long as they could: while some women marched for six weeks others could only spare a shorter time.[6]: 155
Public meetings were organised along the routes of the march, and in some cases the women were met with violence from hostile locals, as atRipon where they were attacked by drunks celebrating the local agricultural show,[6]: 174–175 and atThame where an attempt was made to burn one of the marchers' caravans while they slept in it.[6]: 1–4, 213–215
On Saturday, 26 July, the marchers and others converged onHyde Park for their rally. They assembled at pre-arranged points to march to the park, where 78 speakers addressed the crowd from 19 platforms, one for each federation within the NUWSS. At 6pm a vote was taken at each platform, and those present unanimously passed the motion "That this meeting demands a Government measure for the enfranchisement of women".[6]: 227
A 2025 study found that "proximity to the Pilgrimage increased women’s registration in local elections."[8]
In 2013 a series of walks were held to commemorate the centenary of the pilgrimage. Playwright Natalie McGrath's playOxygen, which was inspired by the 1913 march, was performed by the arts organisation Dreadnought South West at venues along the march route.[9][10][11]
{{cite journal}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)