Cicely Mary Hamilton (née Hammill; 15 June 1872 – 6 December 1952), was an English actress, writer, journalist,

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and feminist, part of the struggle for

women's suffrage in the United Kingdom A movement to fight for women's right to vote in the United Kingdom finally succeeded through acts of Parliament in 1918 and 1928. It became a national movement in the Victorian era. Women were not explicitly banned from voting in Great Brita ...

. She is now best known for the feminist play ''How the Vote was Won'', which sees a male anti-suffragist change his mind when the women in his life go on strike.Lisa Shariari, "Hamilton, Cicely" in Faye Hammill, Ashlie Sponenberg and Esme Miskimmin (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of British Women's Writing, 1900-1950''. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. (pp. 105-6) She was also the author of one of the most frequently performed suffrage plays, ''A Pageant of Great Women'' (1909), which featured the character of Jane Austen as one of its "Learned Women."

Biography

Born in 1872, Cicely Hammill in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

, London, she was the eldest of the four children of Maude Mary and Denzil Hammil. She was educated in

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern is a spa town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is a historic conservation area, which grew dr ...

and in

Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe'' ...

. Hammill was raised by foster parents because her mother had gone missing. After a short spell in teaching she acted in a touring company. She took the pseudonym "Cicely Hamilton" out of consideration for her family. Then she wrote drama, including feminist themes, and enjoyed a period of success in the commercial theatre. Hamilton was praised for her acting in a performance of '' Fanny's First Play'' by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

. In 1908 she and Bessie Hatton founded the Women Writers' Suffrage League. This grew to around 400 members, including Ivy Compton-Burnett,

Sarah Grand Sarah Grand (10 June 1854 – 12 May 1943) was an English feminist writer active from 1873 to 1922. Her work revolved around the New Woman ideal. Early life and influences Sarah Grand was born Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke in Roseba ...

Violet Hunt Isobel Violet Hunt (28 September 1862 – 16 January 1942) was a British author and literary hostess. She wrote feminist novels. She founded the Women Writers' Suffrage League in 1908 and participated in the founding of International PEN. Biog ...

Marie Belloc Lowndes Marie Adelaide Elizabeth Rayner Lowndes (née Belloc; 5 August 1868 – 14 November 1947), who wrote as Marie Belloc Lowndes, was a prolific English novelist, and sister of author Hilaire Belloc. Active from 1898 until her death, she had a li ...

, Alice Meynell,

Olive Schreiner Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel '' The Story of an African Farm'' (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It dea ...

Evelyn Sharp Evelyn Sharp may refer to: *Evelyn Sharp (aviator) (1919–1944), American aviator * Evelyn Sharp (businesswoman) (died 1997), American hotelier * Evelyn Sharp (suffragist) (1869–1955), British suffragist and author *Evelyn Sharp, Baroness Sharp ...

, May Sinclair and

Margaret L. Woods Margaret Louisa Woods (née Bradley; 20 November 1855 – 1 December 1945) was an English writer, known for novels and for her lyrical and socially conscious poetry. Life She was born in Rugby, the daughter of the scholar George Granville ...

. It produced campaigning literature, written by Sinclair amongst others, and recruited many prominent male supporters. Cicely Hamilton by Lena Connell 1910s

Hamilton supplied the lyrics of "'' The March of the Women''", the song which

Ethel Smyth Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended t ...

composed in 1910 for the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership an ...

, was first performed at an 'At Home' in Suffolk Street Galleries, Pall Mall to celebrate the release of women violently arrested on Black Friday; it had suitably stirring lyrics for such an occasion: In the days before radio, one effective way to get a message out into society and to have it discussed was to produce short plays that could be performed around the country, and so suffrage drama was born.

Elizabeth Robins Elizabeth Robins (August 6, 1862 – May 8, 1952) was an actress, playwright, novelist, and suffragette. She also wrote as C. E. Raimond. Early life Elizabeth Robins, the first child of Charles Robins and Hannah Crow, was born in Louisville, ...

's "''Votes for Women"'' and Cicely Hamilton and

Christopher St. John Christopher St. John, sometimes credited as Chris St. John, is an American film and television actor. He is also a film producer, film director and screenwriter and played a minor role in the television series ''Remington Steele''. Career ...

's "''How the Vote Was Won"'' are two predominant examples of the genre.Maroula Joannou &

June Purvis June Purvis is an emeritus professor of women's and gender history at the University of Portsmouth. From 2014-18, Purvis was Chair of the Women’s History Network UK and from 2015-20 Treasurer of the International Federation for Research in Wo ...

, The Women's Suffrage Movement: New Feminist Perspectives (Manchester University Press, 1998), 127 Hamilton also wrote "''A Pageant of Great Women"'', a highly successful women's suffrage play based on the ideas of her friend, the theatre director Edith Craig. Hamilton played 'Woman' while Craig played the painter

Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals (animalière). She also made sculpture in a realist style. Her paintings include ''Ploughing in the Nivernais'', firs ...

, one of the 50 or so great women in the play. Lena Connell's photographs of the leading players were sold to assist the suffrage cause and Connell exhibited the pictures at the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

in 1910-11. The play was produced all over the UK from 1909 until the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

.Cockin, Katharine. ''Edith Craig (1869–1947): Dramatic Lives'', Cassell (1998). Hamilton was a member of Craig's theatre society, the ''Pioneer Players''. Her play "''Jack and Jill and a Friend'' "was one of the three plays in the Pioneer Players' first production in May 1911.Cockin, Katharine. ''Women and Theatre in the Age of Suffrage: The Pioneer Players 1911–25'', Palgrave (2001) Hamilton inspired young schoolgirls, supportive of suffrage, like Winifred Starbuck, who had Hamilton and other leaders' pictures on her desk in purple, white and green frames and later herself protested by school disorder, such as graffiti and hiding the school registers and handbell, as a milder form of resistance to authority for women's suffrage. During World War I Hamilton initially worked in the organisation of nursing care, with the Scottish Women's ambulance service near

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, and then joined the army as an auxiliary. Later she formed a

repertory company A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

to entertain the troops. After the war, she wrote as a freelance journalist, particularly on birth control, and was a press officer for the

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

International Suffrage Conference and as a playwright for the

Birmingham Repertory Company Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theat ...

. When Lena Ashwell Players Ltd was formed in 1923, Hamilton was one of the directors. The other three were

Lena Ashwell Lena Margaret Ashwell, Lady Simson ( Pocock; 28 September 1872 – 13 March 1957) was a British actress and theatre manager and producer, known as the first to organise large-scale entertainment for troops at the front, which she did during Wo ...

, Esme Church and Marion Fawcett, who were the company's theatre managers. Hamilton was a regular contributor to '' Time and Time'' magazine, and an active member of the feminist

Six Point Group The Six Point Group was a British feminist campaign group founded by Lady Rhondda in 1921 to press for changes in the law of the United Kingdom in six areas. Aims The six original specific aims were: # Satisfactory legislation on child assault; ...

, campaigning for the rights of children, widows and unmarried mothers; equal guardianship of children, and equal pay in teaching and civil service. In 1938 she was given a

Civil List pension Pensions in the United Kingdom, whereby United Kingdom tax payers have some of their wages deducted to save for retirement, can be categorised into three major divisions - state, occupational and personal pensions. The state pension is based on ...

. She was a friend of E. M. Delafield and is thought to be the model for "Emma Hay" in Delafield's "''Provincial Lady"'' books. Hamilton's "''Theodore Savage"'' (1922, vt. ''Lest Ye Die'' 1928) is a science-fiction novel about a Britain devastated by a war. Hamilton's autobiography "''Life Errant"'' was published in 1935. She died in Chelsea in 1952. In July 2017, the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world pr ...

staged the first London production of Hamilton's play "''Just to Get Married''" in over 100 years. It received positive reviews (4 stars) from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

,'' ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'', ''

The Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after bei ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Works

*''The Traveller Returns'' (1906) play *''

Diana of Dobson's ''Diana of Dobson's'' is a 1908 feminist novel and play by Cicely Hamilton. The play is subtitled ''A Romantic Comedy in Four Acts''. Ostensibly a romantic comedy, it has been added to the canon of feminist theatre because it critiques many contem ...

'' (novel, play 1908) *''Women's Votes'' (1908) *''Marriage as a Trade'' (1909) *''How the Vote was Won'' (1909) play *''A Pageant of Great Women'' (1910) play *''Just to Get Married'' (1911) play *''Jack and Jill and a Friend'' (1911) play *'' Lady Noggs'' (1912) play *'' William - an Englishman'' (1919) novel (Reprinted by

Persephone Books ''Persephone Books'' is an independent publisher based in Bath, England. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books reprints works largely by women writers of the late 19th and 20th century, though a few books by men are included. Th ...

in 1999) *''The Child in Flanders: A Nativity Play'' (1922) *''Theodore Savage: A Story of the Past or the Future'' (1922) *''The Old Adam'' (1924) play *''Non-Combatant'' (1924) *''The Human Factor'' (1925) *''The Old Vic'' (1926) with

Lilian Baylis Lilian Mary Baylis CH (9 May 187425 November 1937) was an English theatrical producer and manager. She managed the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres in London and ran an opera company, which became the English National Opera (ENO); a theatr ...

*''Lest Ye Die'' (1928) *''Modern Germanies, as seen by an Englishwoman'' (1931) *''Modern Italy, as seen by an Englishwoman'' (1932) *''Modern France, as seen by an Englishwoman'' (1933) *''Little Arthur's History of the Twentieth Century'' (1933) *''Modern Russia, as seen by an Englishwoman'' (1934) *''Modern Austria, as seen by an Englishwoman'' (1935) *''Life Errant'' (1935) autobiography *''Modern Ireland, as seen by an Englishwoman'' (1936) *''Modern Scotland, as seen by an Englishwoman'' (1937) *''Modern England, as seen by an Englishwoman'' (1938) *''Modern Sweden, as seen by an Englishwoman'' (1939) *''The Englishwoman'' (1940) *''Lament for Democracy'' (1940) *''The Beggar Prince'' (1944) play *''Holland To-day'' (1950)

Notes

References

* *Lis Whitelaw (1990) ''The Life & Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton''

Biography

Works

Notes

References

Further reading

External links