Laetitia Withall (30 August 1881 – 11 March 1963) was an Australian-born poet, author and militant suffragette who campaigned in 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 ...

(WSPU) under the name Leslie Hall. On her imprisonment she 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 ...

and was

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 ...

for which she received the

Hunger Strike Medal The Hunger Strike Medal was a silver medal awarded between August 1909 and 1914 to suffragette prisoners by the leadership of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). During their imprisonment, they went on hunger strike while serving t ...

from the

(WSPU). This medal is now in the collection of the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

.Hunger strike medal presented to Letitia Withall by the Women's Social & Political Union (1913)
-

Online Collection

Early years

Withall was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in Australia in 1881, the daughter of her British-born parents Louisa Margaret ''née'' Reed (1858–1951) and architect Latham Augustus Withall, OBE (1853–1925) and moved with her family to the

when she was aged 7; here she was to remain for the rest of her life but never forgot the country of her birth.Miss Laetitia Withall - Women's Suffrage: History and Citizenship resources for schools
/ref>

Activism

She was first arrested in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

on 18 September 1909 as Leslie Hall (a name she had adopted so as to prevent the embarrassment of her parents). On 21 December 1909 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

she and

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 ...

approached the Prime Minister

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

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 in custody for six days.England, Suffragettes Arrested, 1906-1914 for Leslie Hall: HO 45/24665: Suffragettes: Amnesty of August 1914: Index of Women Arrested, 1906-1914 - Ancestry.com
/ref> Bail was refused, though Martin promised that both she and Withall would refrain from militant action until their trial. The women were removed to

Walton Gaol HM Prison Liverpool (formerly Walton Gaol) is a category B local men's prison in Walton, Liverpool, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Liverpool Prison (originally known as Walton Gaol) was constructed between 18 ...

, and were treated as though they were convicted criminals, being treated with considerable violence in prison. 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 the

. Each one was then clothed in a straitjacket and placed in a punishment cell.

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 ...

was continued and they both grew rapidly weaker until 3 February 1910, when they were released. 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 Secretary

Herbert Gladstone Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone, (7 January 1854 – 6 March 1930) was a British Liberal politician. The youngest son of William Ewart Gladstone, he was Home Secretary from 1905 to 1910 and Governor-General of the Union of South ...

wrote to ''

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'' (f ...

'' 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 the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, an ...

by Ann Macbeth (1875–1948) and her students and today held in the collection of 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 Museum (fou ...

Later life

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), and ''When Half-Gods Go. A Spiritualistic Composition'' (1922). In 1939 Withall was living at 8 Linden Avenue in Broadstairs in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and here she died in 1963 aged 82. She never married. In 1961 aged 80 she donated her

to the collection of the

.Peter Cochrane (ed
''Remarkable Occurrences: The National Library of Australia's First 100 Years 1901-2001''
National Library of Australia (2001) - Google Books pg. 98

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Withall, Laetitia 1881 births 1963 deaths Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom English suffragettes British feminists British women's rights activists Women's Social and Political Union Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales Hunger Strike Medal recipients