Edith Mansell-Moullin (September 1858–5 March 1941) was an English suffragist of Welsh heritage and social activist. Proud of her Welsh roots, she founded the
Cymric Suffrage Union, which was dedicated to gaining
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
for Welsh women. She was the co-organizer of the Welsh contingent of the 1911 procession of the Women’s Suffrage Union’s "Great Demonstration" held in 1911 in London. Part of the more militant British suffrage contingent, she was imprisoned for dissidence and refused to stop government agitation during
World War I
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 fightin ...
.
Biography
Edith Ruth Thomas was born in September 1858 to Anne (née Lloyd) and David Collet Thomas. After completing her education, she worked in the
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
slums and continued to do so after her 1885 marriage to the well-known surgeon, Charles William Mansell-Moullin, who worked at the
Royal London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and spe ...
. She witnessed the
Match Girl's Strike in 1888 and assisted dock workers in a
soup kitchen
A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the Hunger, hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price (such as via coin donations upon visiting). Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoo ...
during the
London Dock strike of 1889
The London dock strike was an industrial dispute involving dock workers in the Port of London. It broke out on 14 August 1889, and resulted in victory for the 100,000 strikers and established strong trade unions amongst London dockers, one of whi ...
. She continued her
settlement house work until around 1906, when she joined the
Women's Industrial Council
The Women's Industrial Council (WIC) was a British organisation active from 1894 to about 1917, promoting the interests of women at work.
Federation
The organisation originated as the Women's Trade Union Association, founded by Clementina Black i ...
and became chair of the Investigation Committee of the council. She also joined 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 and ...
(WSPU) around 1907 and became the first treasurer of the Church League for Women's Suffrage. Both Mansell-Moullins were suffragists. The doctor belonged to the
Men's League for Women's Suffrage The Men's League for Women's Suffrage may refer to:
*The Men's League, United States women's suffrage group, also known as the Men's Equal Suffrage League and the Men's League for Women's Suffrage
*The Men's League for Women's Suffrage (United King ...
and served as a vice president. Mansell-Moullin was a member of the
Women's Freedom League
The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigned for women's suffrage and sexual equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access ...
besides the WSPU.
Mansell-Moullin took part in several protests including the 1910 demonstration held in Hyde Park, in which she shared the stage with
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...
. On 17 June 1911, 40,000 women marched in the "Great Demonstration" sponsored by the Women’s Suffrage Union, as part of the coronation procession for
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
. Mansell-Moullin organized the Welsh contingent of the parade with Rachel Barrett and encouraged the Welsh participants to wear the national costume. Proud of her Welsh parentage, after the procession, Mansell-Moullin founded the
Cymric Suffrage Union (CSU), whose aim was to secure the right to vote for Welsh women. Though primarily based in London there were branches in Wales and she made speaking tours in northern Wales to promote suffrage. The CSU also translated documents about enfranchisement into the
Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...
and distributed them to churches with Welsh congregations. In November 1911, Mansell-Moullin participated in the demonstration before Parliament in which she was among the 200 women arrested. She was charged with disturbing the peace and attempting to break the police lines, which she denied. She was sentenced and spent five days in
Holloway Prison
HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016.
Hist ...
.
After her imprisonment, the CSU was disbanded and a more militant organization, the
Forward Cymric Suffrage Union (FCSU), was formed in October 1912. She and her husband spoke out against
force-feeding
Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a human or animal against their will. The term ''gavage'' (, , ) refers to supplying a substance by means of a small plastic feeding tube passed through the nose ( nasogastric) or mouth (orogastric) into t ...
suffrage prisoners and the Mansel Moullin's home became a meeting center for discussing strategy. In 1913 Mansel Moullin became the honorary secretary of the group
Sylvia Pankhurst
Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was a campaigning English feminist and socialist. Committed to organising working-class women in London's East End, and unwilling in 1914 to enter into a wartime political truce with ...
formed to gain the repeal of the ''
Cat and Mouse Act
The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act, commonly referred to as the Cat and Mouse Act, was an Act of Parliament passed in Britain under H. H. Asquith's Liberal government in 1913. Some members of the Women's Social and Political Un ...
''. This act replaced force-feeding by releasing prisoners when they became ill from lack of food, but then re-imprisoned them as soon as they had sufficiently recovered. That same year, Dr. Mansell-Moullin performed surgery on
Emily Davison
Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Polit ...
after she was trampled by King George V's horse at
The Derby, though he was unable to save her.
Mansell-Moullin resigned from the WSPU, in part because of its decision to suspend anti-government protests during the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
. As a pacifist, Mansell-Moullin neither supported the war, nor believed that social responsibility should be suspended. Disturbed by the practice of arresting German mine workers who were working in Welsh mines, causing the miner's families hardship, Mansell-Moullin sent appeals on their behalf and collected funds through the FCSU to assist them. She also sent protests about the low wages being paid to women during the war, requesting that public funds be used to supplement the wages of women doing relief work. She resigned from her positions in the FCSU in 1916 due to health concerns, though she continued to work in social programs and with pacifist organizations. In 1931, she chaired the Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR and worked as a volunteer at
St Dunstan's, which operated a home for blind veterans.
Mansell-Moullin died on 5 March 1941 at her son's home in London, one year after her husband's death.
Posthumous recognition
Her name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the
plinth
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...
of the
statue of Millicent Fawcett
The statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London, honours the British suffragist leader and social campaigner Dame Millicent Fawcett. It was made in 2018 by Gillian Wearing. Following a campaign and petition by the activist Caroline C ...
in
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...
, London, unveiled in 2018.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:MansellMoullin, Edith
1858 births
1941 deaths
Activists from London
Welsh suffragists
Welsh feminists
Welsh activists
Welsh women activists