![Painting_by_Marion_Wallace_Dunlop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Painting_by_Marion_Wallace_Dunlop.jpg)
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
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 ...
to go 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 ...
, on 5 July 1909, after being arrested in July 1909 for militancy.
[''The Militant Suffrage Movement : Citizenship and Resistance in Britain'', by Laura E. Nym Mayhall, Assistant Professor of History Catholic University of America] She said she would not take any food unless she was treated as a political prisoner instead of as a common criminal. Wallace Dunlop's mode of protest influenced suffragettes after her and other leaders like
M. K. Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
and
James Connolly
James Connolly ( ga, Séamas Ó Conghaile; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. Born to Irish parents in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, Connolly left school for working life at the a ...
, who also used fasting to protest British rule. She was at the centre 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 ...
and designed processions and banners for them.
Biography
Wallace Dunlop was born at Leys Castle,
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
, Scotland, on 22 December 1864, the daughter of Robert Henry Wallace Dunlop and his second wife, Lucy Wallace Dunlop (née Dowson; 1836–1914). Although commonly believed to have studied at the
Slade School of Fine Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
in London, there is no official record of Wallace Dunlop having attended school there. Her paintings were displayed at the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
in 1903, 1905 and 1906. In 1899, she illustrated ''Fairies, Elves, and Flower Babies'' and ''The Magic Fruit Garden'' in art-nouveau style.
Wallace Dunlop was a
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
and joined the
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...
in 1911.
[Crawford, Elizabeth. (2003). ''The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928''. Taylor & Francis. p. 179. ] She resigned in 1913.
Suffragism
Wallace Dunlop became an active member 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)
[''Women's Suffrage Movement'' by Elizabeth Crawford] and was first arrested in 1908 for obstruction at the House of Commons along with others like
Ada Flatman
Ada Susan Flatman (1876–1952) was a British suffragette who worked in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Life
Ada Susan Flatman was born in Suffolk in 1876. She was of independent means and became interested in women's rights. She li ...
and again in 1908 for leading a group of women in a march. In 1909 she was arrested a third time, in this case for stenciling a passage 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 a 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. ...
which read, "It is the right of the subject to petition the King, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal."
It was upon being arrested for this offense on 2 July 1909 that she commenced her first hunger strike.
Hunger strikes
There was never any suggestion that anyone advised or recommended that Wallace Dunlop go on a hunger strike, and all indications are that it was her idea. However, shortly after word got out, hunger-striking became standard
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 ...
practice.
Christabel Pankhurst
Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bord ...
later reported: "Miss Wallace Dunlop, taking counsel with no one and acting entirely on her own initiative, sent to the
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
,
Mr. Gladstone, as soon as she entered Holloway Prison, an application to be placed in the first division as befitted one charged with a political offence. She announced that she would eat no food until this right was conceded." Mrs. Pethick-Lawrence noted that Wallace Dunlop had found a "new way of insisting upon the proper status of political prisoners, and had the resourcefulness and energy in the face of difficulties that marked the true suffragette".
91 hours
Wallace Dunlop endured 91 hours of fasting before she was released on 8 July 1909 the grounds of ill health. Hunger striking was her idea and after her success it became official WSPU policy.
[Leneman, L. (23 September 2004). Dunlop, Marion Wallace- (1864–1942), suffragist and artist. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 8 January 2018, se]
link
/ref> As a result, in September 1909, the British Government
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, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
introduced 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 ...
in prisons.[''Hunger: A Modern History'' by James Vernon] Along with other suffragettes who were imprisoned and went on hunger strikes, Wallace Dunlop was given a 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 ...
by WSPU.
Death
Wallace Dunlop was a pallbearer when 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 ...
died in 1928. She then took on the task of caring for Mary, who was Pankhurst's adopted daughter. Wallace Dunlop died on 12 September 1942 at Mount Alvernia Nursing Home in Guildford.[
]
Gallery
File:Marion Wallace Dunlop A Google eyed Demon.jpg, A "Google eyed Demon" woodcut
File:The Magic Fruit Garden by Marion Wallace Dunlop.jpg, ''The Magic Fruit Garden'' by Marion Wallace Dunlop
File:Blathwayt, Col Linley · Suffragettes Annie and Kitty Kenney, Florence Haig, Mary Blathwayt and Marion Wallace-Dunlop.jpg, Annie Kenney
Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie ...
, Kitty Kenney
Caroline "Kitty" Kenney (1880 – 1952) was a sister of Annie Kenney, one of the most well-known British suffragettes to go on hunger strike,''The Militant Suffrage Movement : Citizenship and Resistance in Britain'', by Laura E. Nym Mayhall, Ass ...
, Florence Haig
Florence Eliza Haig (1856–1952) was a Scottish artist and suffragette who was decorated for imprisonments and hunger strikes.
Biography
Haig was born in 1856. Her father was a Berwickshire barrister and she had two sisters, Cecilia and Evelyn. ...
, Mary Blathwayt
Mary Blathwayt (1 February 1879 – 25 June 1961) was a British feminist, suffragette and social reformer. She lived at Eagle House in Somerset. This house became known as the "Suffragette's Rest" and contained a memorial to the protests o ...
and Marion Wallace-Dunlop at "Suffragette's Rest"
File:Marion Wallace Dunlop WSPU prisoners scrapbook entry.png, Entry by Marion Wallace Dunlop in Mabel Cappers WSPU prisoners scrapbook June 1909
File:Suffragette starves herself out of jail.jpg, Article about Dunlop's hunger strike in the 10 July 1909, edition of the ''Daily Arizona silver belt''
See also
* 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 Britai ...
References
External links
* Detailed bio of Marion Wallace Dunlop's life.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlop, Marion Wallace
1864 births
1942 deaths
19th-century Scottish women artists
20th-century Scottish women artists
Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
British women activists
Eagle House suffragettes
Fasting advocates
Hunger Strike Medal recipients
People from Ealing
People from Inverness
Scottish suffragettes
Victorian women writers