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Laetitia Withall (30 August 1881 – 11 March 1963) was an Australian-born poet, author and militantsuffragette who campaigned in theUnited Kingdom for theWomen's Social and Political Union (WSPU) under the nameLeslie Hall. On her imprisonment she went onhunger strike and wasforce-fed for which she received theHunger Strike Medal from theWomen's Social and Political Union (WSPU). This medal is now in the collection of theNational Library of Australia.[1]
Withall was born inAdelaide in Australia in 1881, the daughter of her British-born parents Louisa Margaretnée Reed (1858–1951) and architect Latham Augustus Withall,OBE (1853–1925) and moved with her family to theUnited Kingdom when she was aged 7;[2] here she was to remain for the rest of her life but never forgot the country of her birth.[3]
She was first arrested inBirmingham on 18 September 1909 as Leslie Hall (a name she had adopted so as to prevent the embarrassment of her parents).[4] On 21 December 1909 inLiverpool she andSelina Martin approached the Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith as he was leaving his motor car, and tackled him on the subject of women's rights. He didn't answer the ladies, causing Martin to throw an empty ginger beer bottle into the empty car. Both women were immediately arrested, and were afterwards remanded incustody for six days.[4] Bail was refused, though Martin promised that both she and Withall would refrain from militant action until their trial. The women were removed toWalton Gaol, and were treated as though they were convicted criminals, being treated with considerable violence in prison.[3]
On Monday, 27 December 1909 the two women were again brought into court, when Withall/Hall was ordered one month's imprisonment with hard labour, and Martin to two months. On returning to prison both the women refused to wear prison dress and recommenced thehunger strike. Each one was then clothed in a straitjacket and placed in a punishment cell.Force-feeding was continued and they both grew rapidly weaker until 3 February 1910, when they were released.[5]
Meanwhile, the facts as to their treatment whilst imprisoned on remand had been widely circulated, for they had dictated statements for their friends' use whilst their trial was being conducted. The Home SecretaryHerbert Gladstone wrote toThe Times denying the truth of the statements, declaring that the reason for refusing bail to the women was that they had refused to promise to be of good behaviour until their trial came on, that no unnecessary violence had been used and that the women themselves had made no complaint. But indeed, the inaccuracy of Mr. Gladstone's statements had become proverbial, for he was constantly denying the truth of charges which were clearly substantiated by the most reliable evidence.
Her signature is among those embroidered on The Suffragette Banner designed at theGlasgow School of Art byAnn Macbeth (1875–1948) and her students and today held in the collection of theMuseum of London.[6]
A poet and author on spiritual matters, Withall's books include:A Traveller Through Time: Glimpses Of A Soul's Past (1928);The Window And Other Poems (1927);Of Meditation And Prayer (1934);Of Prayer. A Simple Talk (1932), andWhen Half-Gods Go. A Spiritualistic Composition (1922).
In 1939 Withall was living at 8 Linden Avenue inBroadstairs inKent[7] and here she died in 1963 aged 82. She never married.[8]
In 1961 aged 80 she donated herHunger Strike Medal[9] to the collection of theNational Library of Australia.[1][2][10]
