suffrage

Keir Hardie

About: 

James Keir Hardie, originally James Kerr, was the son of Mary Kerr, a Scottish farm servant. His father was probably William Aitken, a miner from Holytown, but Mary Kerr brought up her son alone before meeting David Hardie, a former ship’s carpenter, who she married in 1859. Hardie is said to have raised his wife’s first son as his own, and he became known as James Keir Hardie. The family moved between Glasgow and the nearby countryside, suffering periods of poverty caused by unemployment. Keir Hardie received no formal education and started work as a miner at the age of 10. His early experiences of poverty were formative to his politicization. At the age of 17, he joined the Temperance Movement, and soon afterwards he became involved in miners’ associations becoming secretary of the Hamilton District Branch of the Lanarkshire Miners’ Union at the age of 21. At a similar time, he became a committed Christian, joining the Evangelical Union, a branch of the United Secession Church, in 1877. It was through the church that he met his future wife, Lillias Balfour Wilson, who he married in 1879. The couple had four children.

Hardie left the mines for trade union work in 1879, eventually becoming secretary of the Ayrshire Miners’ Union. He then progressed to party politics, rejecting liberalism for socialism, and launching his own monthly paper, the Labour Leader. Having moved to London in 1891, Hardie was returned for West Ham South as an ‘independent Labour’ candidate in the General Election of 1892. Described by his biographer Kenneth O. Morgan as the ‘prophet and evangelist’ of the Labour Party, Hardie played a key role in the major events of its early history, including the founding of the Independent Labour Party in 1893 and that of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900 - which became the Labour Party in 1906. Defeated in 1896, he was elected MP to Merthyr Tudful in 1900. In 1906, he was elected first chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party but resigned from the post in 1907. Both within and outwith Parliament, he campaigned tirelessly for the unemployed, free schooling, pensions, Indian self-rule and, perhaps most of all, women’s rights. He had a close friendship with the Pankhurst family, particularly Sylvia who was probably his lover. Hardie was also a pacifist and outspoken in his criticism of the First World War.

Hardie was an internationalist and vociferous critic of the British Government in India, frequently calling for Indian self-rule in Parliament. On 20 July 1906, he made a particularly harsh denunciation of conditions in India, including death rates, low wages and the exclusion of Indians from local government, receiving support from many of his fellow Labour MPs. The following year, he toured India. He gave numerous speeches there, exposing the corruption of the Raj, speaking out in favour of Indian self-determination and against racism, advocating non-violent agitation, and encouraging the Congress Party. He was accompanied on his tours by the revolutionary Indian Nationalist B. G. Tilak as well as leaders of the swadeshi movement J. Chowdhury and Surendranath Banerjea, and is said to have peppered his speeches with the slogan ‘Bande Mataram’, even though he advocated a gradual extension of self-government rather than immediate withdrawal. Hardie’s tour of India alarmed the British authorities, and was stirred up by the press. There were calls for him to be deported and accusations of sedition. On his return, he continued speaking out for Indian self-rule in the House of Commons, campaigning (unsuccessfully) for the release from prison of Tilak, and publishing in 1909 India: Impressions and Suggestions which was formative to the Labour Party’s position on India for the next fifty years.

Published works: 

Books: 

From Serfdom to Socialism (London: The Labour Ideal, 1907)

India: Impressions and Suggestions (London: Indendent Labour Party, 1909)

Several pamphlets including:

The Mines Nationalization Bill (1893)

The Unemployed Problem and Some Suggestions for Solving it (1904)

The Citizenship of Women: A Plea for Women’s Suffrage (1906)

Indian Budget Speech, Delivered in the House of Commons on July 22nd, 1908 (1908)

Socialism and Civilisation (1910)

Labour and Christianity (1910)

Killing No Murder! The Government and the Railway Strike (1911)

Radicals and Reform (1912)

Date of birth: 
15 Aug 1856
Connections: 

Surendranath Banerjea, Fenner Brockway (disciple), John Burns, J. Chowdhury, Charlotte Despard, Friedrich Engels, Michael Foot, S. K. Gokhale, Emrys Hughes (son-in-law), Ramsay MacDonald, John Morley, Christabel Pankhurst, Emmeline Pankhurst, Sylvia Pankhurst (friend and lover), George Bernard Shaw, B. J. Tilak, Beatrice Webb.

Independent Labour Party, Labour Party.

Contributions to periodicals: 

Wrote articles for several periodicals including:

International Socialist Review

Labour Prophet

New Liberal Review

Nineteenth Century

Socialist Review

Hardie also wrote weeky columns for the Labour Leader and the Merthyr Pioneer

Secondary works: 

Benn, Caroline, Keir Hardie (London: Hutchinson, 1992)

Cole, G. D. H., Keir Hardie (London: Victor Gollancz and the Fabian Society, 1941)

Hughes, Emrys (ed.), Keir Hardie’s Writings and Speeches, from 1888 to 1915, preface by Nan Hardie (Glasgow: Forward Publishing Company, 1928)

Hughes, Emrys, Keir Hardie (London: Allen & Unwin, 1956)

Morgan, Kenneth O., Keir Hardie: Radical and Socialist (London: Weidenfield & Nicolson, 1975)

Morgan, Kenneth O., ‘Keir Hardie’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33696]

Archive source: 

Correspondence and papers, Baird Institute History Centre and Museum, Cumnock

Correspondence, diary and papers, Labour History Archive and Study Centre, Manchester

Correspondence and papers (including Indian travel notes), National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh

Correspondence with John Burns, Add. MS 46287, British Library, St Pancras

Correspondence with Lord Gladstone, Add. Mss 46062–46068, British Library, St Pancras

Letters to George Bernard Shaw, Add. MS 50538, British Library, St Pancras

Letters to the Fabian Society, British Library of Political and Economic Science

Independent Labour Party National Administrative Council Mss, British Library of Political and Economic Science

Correspondence with Sylvia Pankhurst, Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis, Amsterdam

Correspondence with G. W. Balfour, National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh

Letters to George Saunders Jacobs, Newham Archive and Local Studies Library, London

Emrys Hughes Mss, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh

Letters to niece Agnes, National Register of Archives, private collection

Hedley Dennis Mss, National Register of Archives, private collection

City of birth: 
Laigbrannock, near Glasgow
Country of birth: 
Scotland
Other names: 

James Kerr

James Keir Hardie

Date of death: 
26 Sep 1915
Location of death: 
Glasgow
Location: 

Old Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland

Neville’s Court, off Fleet Street, London

Sophia Duleep Singh

About: 

Sophia Duleep Singh was the fifth child of six children of the Maharaja Duleep Singh. Her father became the Maharaja of Punjab in 1843 when he was aged just five years old, but the Punjab was subsequently annexed in 1849. The Maharaja, of Sikh background, converted to Christianity and eventually settled in England, becoming a naturalized British citizen and receiving a British pension. Sophia's mother, Bamba Müller, came from German and Ethiopian ancestry. The family settled in Elveden Hall in Norfolk where Sophia was born in 1876. In 1896, Queen Victoria gave Sophia 'Faraday House' in Hampton Court as a 'grace and favour' home, and it is here that she lived for most of her adult life. Sophia was a keen cyclist and fond of her three dogs - she showed her pets at Ladies Kennel Association shows.

Sophia was highly involved in the patronage of Indians in Britain, such as in the establishment of the Lascars' Club in the East End of London. Her main focus of activity, however, was in the women's suffrage movement. She had joined the Women's Social and Political Union at the home of Una Dugdale and became an active campaigner at the Richmond, Surrey, branch of the WSPU. On 18 November 1910, she took part in the first deputation to the House of Commons, 'Black Friday', with Emmeline Pankhurst, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and others. Sophia joined the Tax Resistance League (WTRL). She refused to pay taxes on the principle that women should not have to pay taxes when they did not have the vote to determine the use of those taxes. This stance led to various fines where jewellery was impounded but then bought back in auction by members of the WTRL. These actions created a high profile stand for the women's movement.

Sophia was also involved in bringing attention to the contribution of Indian soldiers in the First World War. Sophia visited wounded Indian soldiers in Brighton. She organized Flag Days to raise money for wounded soldiers - the first of which was on 19 October 1916 at Haymarket - where British and Indian women sold Indian flags decorated with elephants, stars or other objects. Sophia also entertained Indian soldiers who were part of a peace contingent at her home in Hampton Court in September 1919. Sophia joined the Suffragette Fellowship after World War One and remained a fellow until her death. During the Second World War, Sophia evacuated London and her home in Hampton Court to live in the village of Penn in Buckinghamshire, in a bungalow named 'Rathenrae'.

Example: 

Letter from Princess Sophia Duleep Singh to Nancy Grant, from Faraday House, 29 April 1911. Autograph Collection, 9/01 Women's Suffrage, Women's Library, London Metropolitan University

Date of birth: 
08 Aug 1876
Content: 

Sophia is responding to an invitation to a Suffrage meeting in Richmond at which Nancy Grant has requested that she speak a few words to support their resolution.

Connections: 

E. J. Beck, K. Chowdry (founder of Lascar Club), Charlotte DespardMillicent Garrett Fawcett, Mithan Lam, Emmeline Pankhurst, John Pollen, Mrs N. C. Sen, Maharaja Duleep Singh (Father), Frederick Duleep Singh (brother), Catherine Duleep Singh (sister), Victor Duleep Singh (brother), Herabai Tata, Queen Victoria, Ada Wright.

British Dominions Woman Suffrage Union, Women's Social and Political Union, Women's Tax Resistance League.

Reviews: 

Asiatic Review

Indian Magazine and Review

The Sketch (1896)

The Suffragette

The Times

Votes for Women

Extract: 

I will come on the 9th to the meeting with pleasure. I hope you have found someone else to support the resolution, if not I will do so, but very much prefer not to, + I shall only say about 5 words!

Secondary works: 

Alexander, Michael and Anand, Sushila, Queen Victoria's Maharajah: Duleep Singh 1838-1893 (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1980)

Bance, Peter, The Duleep Singhs: The Photograph Album of Queen Victoria’s Maharajah (Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2004)

Crawford, Elizabeth, The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928 (London: UCL Press, 1999)

Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain. 400 Years of History (London: Pluto Press, 2002)

Visram, Rozina, 'Duleep Singh, Princess Sophia Alexandra (1876–1948)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/64/101064781/]

Relevance: 

This letter reveals not only Sophia's intimate involvement with the Richmond Women's Suffrage Movement, but also her fear of public speaking, which is evident in other letters. Despite her fears, Sophia did take up an extremely high profile stand for female suffrage in Britain.

Archive source: 

Papers of Maharaja Duleep Singh and children, Mss Eur E377, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

Correspondence in Sandhwalia Family Papers (private)

Letter from a Sikh soldier describing her visit at Milford-on-sea, Mss Eur F143/91, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

Suffragette Fellowship Collection, Museum of London, London 

Letters to Miss Newsome and Nancy Grant, Autograph Collection, Women's Library, London Metropolitan University, London

 

City of birth: 
Norfolk
Country of birth: 
England
Other names: 

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh

Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh

Locations

Elveden, Suffolk
IP24 3TA
United Kingdom
52° 23' 6.7776" N, 0° 41' 13.2648" E
Hampton Court Green, Surrey
KT8 9BS
United Kingdom
51° 23' 28.986" N, 0° 20' 41.784" W
Date of death: 
22 Aug 1948
Location of death: 
Buckinghamshire, England
Location: 

Elveden Hall, Norfolk (childhood home)

Faraday House, Hampton Court (home during adulthood)

Richmond (location for Suffrage meetings)

'Rathenrae', Penn, Buckinghamshire (home where she died)

Golders Green (where she was cremated)

Mithan J Lam

About: 

Mithan Lam was the daughter of Ardeshir and Herabai Tata. Born in 1898, her father was a manager of a textile mill and had been to Lancashire in 1913 to learn new ideas about the cotton industry. In 1911, on a holiday in Kashmir, Herabai and Mithan met Sophia Duleep Singh, who told them about the suffrage movement in Britain and inspired Herabai to become involved in women's rights.

Mithan was awarded a first class degree in economics from Elphinstone College, Bombay, winning a medal for the highest marks. Through her mother's connections, who was Honorary Secretary of the Women's Indian Association in Bombay, they were invited to go to Britain in 1919 to give evidence to a Royal Commission on Indian Reforms chaired by Lord Southborough.

Mithan spoke to MPs in the House of Commons and at public meetings in London on the issue of female suffrage in India. She then decided to stay on in England, enrolling on a Masters Course at the LSE in October 1919. Her mother remained in England to look after her. In 1920 the Inns of Court were opened for women and Mithan joined Lincoln's Inn in April 1920. She was one of the first ten women to be called to the Bar in 1923.

Upon her return to Bombay in December 1923, Mithan enrolled in the Bombay High Court and became active in womens' organizations and reform. She edited Stri Dharma, the journal of the All India Women's Conference, for five years. She married Jamshed Shorab Lam in 1933. 

Example: 

Mss Eur F341/147, manuscript memoir 'Autumn Leaves', Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras, chapter VII.

Date of birth: 
01 Jan 1898
Content: 

On work for deputation to Southborough Committee in 1919. On the leaders of the British Women's Suffrage movement - Mrs Despard, Mrs Ogilvie Gordon, Mrs Millicent Fawcett and Mrs Corbett-Ashby.

Connections: 

Annie Besant (through Theosophical Society in India and then through women's rights), Madame Cama (met in Paris), Margaret Cousins, Charlotte Despard, Millicent Fawcett, Mrs Ogilvie Gordon, Ramsay MacDonald, Sarojini Naidu, Sankaran Nair, Sophia Duleep Singh, Agnes Smedley (president of the Lyceum Club), Lord Southborough, Herabai Tata (mother).

Contributions to periodicals: 

Jus Suffragii: The International Woman Suffrage News

Precise DOB unknown: 
Y
Extract: 

I would like to mention and acknowledge here the unstinted support and help these fine women of the various associations gave us; not only in arranging lecture meetings for us in London, but in many other places in England and Scotland, finding hospitality for us when we were speaking out of London, and passing resolutions supporting our cause, forwarding these resolutions to their M.P.’s etc.

Secondary works: 

Forbes, Geraldine, Women in Modern India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998)

Relevance: 

The networks and co-operation between British and Indian suffragettes.

Archive source: 

Mss Eur F341/147, manuscript memoir 'Autumn Leaves', Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

Herabai Tata's Correspondence with Jaiji Petit, Nehru Memorial Library Archives, New Delhi

Involved in events: 

Address, 'Indian Women and the Vote', to public meeting of Women's Freedom League at Minerva Cafe, London, 3 December 1919.

City of birth: 
Near Nagpur
Country of birth: 
India
Other names: 

née Tata

Location

London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom
51° 30' 50.1948" N, 0° 6' 59.6736" W
Dates of time spent in Britain: 

1919 - December 1923

Herabai Tata

About: 

Herabai Tata was born in 1879 in Bombay. At sixteen she married into the Tata family and gave birth to her daughter, Mithan, a year later. In 1909, Herabai became a Theosophist and would often attend Theosophical conventions in Adyar and Benaras, through which she met Annie Besant. In 1911, on a holiday in Kashmir, Herabai met Princess Sophia Duleep Singh. Through discussion with Sophia and literature that Sophia later sent, Herabai became interested in and an active worker for the cause of women's suffrage.

In 1915, Herabai became Honorary Secretary of the Women's Indian Association (WIA) in Bombay. She was involved in promoting women's right to the Montagu investigation in 1916 and then to the Southborough Franchise Committee. On 2 August 1919, Herabai went to England with Mithan and Sir Sankaran Nair in order to present a memorandum on women's franchise to the Joint Select Committee. In England, Mithan received a place on a post-graduate course at LSE and so Herabai stayed on in England for the next four years while her daughter completed her studies. They stayed at 16 Tavistock Square in London from November 1919 to March 1920.

Published works: 

'A Short Sketch of Indian Women's Franchise Work' (n.d.) in Eunice de Souza and Lindsay Pereira (eds) Women's Voices: Selections from Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century Indian Writing in English (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 127-34.

Date of birth: 
01 Jan 1879
Connections: 
Precise DOB unknown: 
Y
Secondary works: 

Forbes, Geraldine, Women in Modern India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998)

Archive source: 

Correspondence with Mrs Jaiji Petit, Head of Bombay Women's Suffrage Union, 1919-1920, Nehru Memorial Library Archives, New Delhi

City of birth: 
Bombay
Country of birth: 
India
Current name city of birth: 
Mumbai
Current name country of birth: 
India
Other names: 

Mrs H. A. Tata

Location

16 Tavistock Square
London, WC1H 9BQ
United Kingdom
51° 31' 30.6192" N, 0° 7' 36.3036" W
Dates of time spent in Britain: 

1919-23

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