The Hunger Strike Medal was a silver medal awarded between August 1909 and 1914 to

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

prisoners by the leadership of 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). During their imprisonment, they went on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

while serving their sentences in the prisons of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

for acts of militancy in their campaign for

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 ...

. Many women were

force-fed 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 ...

and their individual medals were created to reflect this. The WSPU awarded a range of military-style campaign medals to raise morale and encourage continued loyalty and commitment to the cause. The Hunger Strike Medals were designed by

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 t ...

and first presented by leadership of the

WSPU 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 ...

at a ceremony in early August 1909 to women who had gone on hunger strike while serving a prison sentence. Later the medals would be presented at a breakfast reception on a woman's release from prison.

Background

On 5 July 1909, suffragette

Marion Wallace Dunlop Marion Wallace Dunlop (22 December 1864 – 12 September 1942) was a Scottish artist and author. She was the first and one of the most well known British suffragettes to go on hunger strike, on 5 July 1909, after being arrested in July 1909 fo ...

began her hunger strike 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 ...

. She had been sentenced to one month for stenciling a message from the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

on the wall of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. The prison authorities considered her a criminal prisoner whereas she viewed herself as a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

and began her strike in objection to this classification. Her strike lasted 91 hours, ending only because the prison released her to avoid her death. Although the hunger strike was Wallace Dunlop's idea and she did it without informing the leadership of the WSPU, many others quickly imitated her.

Medal description

The round and hallmarked silver medals hang on a length of ribbon in the purple, white and green colours of the

. This hangs from a silver pin bar engraved with 'For Valour', in imitation of the inscription found on the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. The front of the medal is inscribed 'Hunger Strike', while the reverse is engraved the recipient's name surrounded by a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...

. The medals were made by Toye & Co. and their manufacture cost the

£1.00 each. The silver bars on the medal were awarded for periods of hunger strike and are engraved on the reverse with the date that the recipient was arrested leading to a hunger strike. The enamelled purple, white and green bars for

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 ...

are similarly engraved on the reverse. The sculptor

Edith Downing Edith Elizabeth Downing (January 1857 – 3 October 1931) was a British artist, sculptor and suffragette. Life Edith Elizabeth Downing was born in Cardiff in January 1857. She was one of four children of the coal merchant and shipping agent E ...

's medal bar is engraved with 'Fed by Force 1/3/12' - the date that she was imprisoned which subsequently lead to her

and forcible feeding. The medals could be issued with more than one bar representing multiple hunger strikes or force-feeding.Kevin Grant
''Last Weapons: Hunger Strikes and Fasts in the British Empire, 1890–1948''

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

(2019) - Google Books pg.59

Presentation

Each Hunger Strike Medal was presented in a purple box with a green velvet lining. A piece of white silk was fitted inside the lid which was printed in gold with the dedication: 'Presented to

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by the

in recognition of a gallant action, whereby through endurance to the last extremity of hunger and hardship a great principle of political justice was vindicated'.

Surviving medals

The

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

holds the medal awarded to the suffragette leader Mrs

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 ...

who went on hunger strike during a two-month prison sentence in 1912 for throwing a stone at a window of

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

Helen MacRae's Hunger Strike Medal in its case was auctioned in 2015 to a private collector, for £12,300, Lockdales Auctioneer's auction manager, James Sadler said 'These are among the most historically important items we have ever dealt with.' A medal found in a drawer awarded to suffragette Elsie Wolff Van Sandau who was arrested for smashing a window in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

on 4 March 1912 and who went on hunger strike in prison was sold at auction in 2019 for £12,500.Suffragette's hunger strike medal found after 100 years
-

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

30 May 2019 A medal belonging to suffragette

Selina Martin Selina Martin (21 November 1882 – 1972) was a member of the suffragette movement in the early 20th century. She was arrested several times. Her Hunger Strike Medal given 'for Valour' by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was sold at ...

, auctioned in Nottingham in 2019, expected to fetch £15,000-£20,000 was bought by the National Gallery of

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

for £27,000. The

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

purchased Frances Parker's medal in 2016. The

Museum of Australian Democracy Old Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 after Parliament's relocation from Melbourne to the new capit ...

holds the medal awarded to Charlotte Blacklock. The medal awarded to Kate Williams Evans was sold at auction as part of a collection in 2018 which realised £48,640. It is now in the

National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

.Suffragette hunger strike medal archive sold for Catherine Southon house record to National Museum Wales -
''

Antiques Trade Gazette Auction Technology Group is a publishing business based in London. It publishes ''Antiques Trade Gazette'' which is a London-based weekly publication and website serving the art and antiques community. The print publication has around 16,000 su ...

'' 26 July 2018 Rosamund Massy's medal and

Holloway brooch The Holloway brooch was presented by the Women's Social and Political Union (WPSU) to women who had been imprisoned at Holloway Prison for militant suffragette activity. It is also referred to as the "Portcullis badge", the "Holloway Prison brooc ...

are buried inside the plinth of the statue of

in London.

In popular culture

The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Background

Medal description

Presentation

Surviving medals

In popular culture

Medal recipients

Likely medal recipients

See also

References