The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of

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 ...

societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was renamed the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship.

Formation and campaigning

The team was founded in 1897 by the merger of the National Central Society for Women's Suffrage and the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage, the groups having originally split in 1888. The groups united under the leadership of

Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897– ...

, who was the president of the society for more than twenty years. The organisation was democratic and non-militant, aiming to achieve women's suffrage through peaceful and legal means, in particular by introducing Parliamentary Bills and holding meetings to explain and promote their aims. In 1903 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, the "suffragettes"), who wished to undertake more militant action, split from the NUWSS. Nevertheless, the NUWSS continued to grow, and by 1914 it had in excess of 500 branches throughout the country, with more than 100,000 members. By February of the previous year, it had already spent £60,000 on meetings and propaganda. Many, but by no means all, of the members were middle class, and some were working class. For the 1906 general election, the group formed committees in each constituency to persuade local parties to select pro-suffrage candidates. The NUWSS organized its first large, open-air procession which came to be known as the Mud March on 9 February 1907. Mrs Fawcett said in a speech in 1911 that their movement was "like a glacier; slow moving but unstoppable".

Political bias

Up to July 17, 1912 the NUWSS was not allied with any party, but campaigned in support of individual election candidates who supported votes for women. In parliament, the Conciliation Bill of 1911 helped to change this position. The bill had majority support but was frustrated by insufficient time being given to pass it. The Liberal government relied on the nationalist

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...

for a majority and was insistent that time was given instead to the passage of another Irish Home Rule bill and the Unionist Speaker, Sir James Lowther, opposed votes for women. Consequently, it did not become law. Labour from 1903 was tied into an alliance with the Liberals and its leadership was divided on the issue of female emancipation. However, the 1913 party conference agreed to oppose any franchise bill that did not include extension of the franchise for women after a suffragist campaign in the north west of England effectively changed party opinion. The party consistently supported women's suffrage in the years before the war. Fawcett, a Liberal, became infuriated with that party's delaying tactics and helped Labour candidates against Liberals at election time. In 1912 the NUWSS established the Election Fighting Fund committee (EFF) headed by Catherine Marshall. The committee backed Labour and in 1913–14 the EFF intervened in four by-elections and although Labour won none, the Liberals lost two. The NUWSS, by allying itself with Labour, attempted to put pressure on the Liberals, because the Liberals' political future depended on Labour remaining weak.

NUWSS during World War I

The NUWSS was split between the majority that supported war and the minority that opposed it. During the war. the group set up an employment register so that the jobs of those who were serving could be filled. The NUWSS financed women's hospital units, employing only female doctors and nurses, which served 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 ...

in France, such as the

Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. It was led by Dr. Elsie Inglis and provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I, 14 medical units had been outfitted an ...

(SWH). The NUWSS supported the women's suffrage bill agreed by a Speaker's Conference even though it did not grant the equal suffrage for which the organisation had campaigned.

Activities after World War I

Officers and members of National Union of Societies to Equal Citizenship after Royal Assent to the Equal Franchise Act on 2 July 1928 In 1919, the NUWSS renamed itself as the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship and continued under the leadership of Eleanor Rathbone. It focused on a campaign to equalise suffrage, which was achieved in 1928. It then split into two groups, the

National Council for Equal Citizenship 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 ...

, a short-lived group which focused on other equal rights campaigns, and the Union of Townswomen's Guilds, which focused on educational and welfare provision for women.

Notable members of NUWSS

* Margaret Aldersley *

Catherine Alderton Alderman Mrs. Catherine Buchanan Alderton MBE, JP, CC (1869 – 9 November 1951), was a Cheshire-born British Liberal Party politician and suffragist. She was the first woman elected as Mayoress of Colchester. Background She was the daughter of ...

Betty Balfour Betty Balfour (born Florence Lilian Woods; 27 March 1902 – 4 November 1977) was an English screen actress, popular during the silent era, and known as the "British Mary Pickford" and "Britain's Queen of Happiness". She was best known to au ...

Florence Balgarnie Florence Balgarnie (19 August 1856 – 25 March 1928) was a British suffragette, speaker, pacifist, feminist, and temperance activist. Characterised as a "staunch Liberal", and influenced by Lydia Becker, Balgarnie began her support of women's ...

* Anna Barlow * Annie Besant *

Vera Brittain Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir '' Testament of Youth'' recounted her experiences during the Fir ...

Elizabeth Cadbury Dame Elizabeth Mary Cadbury ( Taylor; 24 June 1858 – 4 December 1951) was a British activist and philanthropist. Her husband was George Cadbury, the chocolate manufacturer. Early life Born in Peckham Rye, Southwark, London, Middlesex, she wa ...

Margery Corbett Ashby Dame Margery Irene Corbett Ashby, ( Corbett; 19 April 1882 – 15 May 1981) was a British suffragist, Liberal politician, feminist and internationalist. Background She was born at Danehill, East Sussex, the daughter of Charles Corbett, a bar ...

Lady Florence Dixie Lady Florence Caroline Dixie (née Douglas; 25 May 18557 November 1905) was a Scottish writer, war correspondent, and feminist. Her account of travelling ''Across Patagonia'', her children's books ''The Young Castaways'' and ''Aniwee; or, The ...

* Helen Fraser * Alison Garland *

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 ...

* Katherine Harley * Margaret Hills (née Robertson) * Margaret MacDonald *

Chrystal Macmillan Jessie Chrystal Macmillan (13 June 1872 – 21 September 1937) was a suffragist, peace activist, barrister, feminist and the first female science graduate from the University of Edinburgh as well as that institution's first female honours gradu ...

* Louisa Martindale * Catherine Osler *

Clara Rackham Clara Dorothea Tabor Rackham (3 December 1875 – 11 March 1966) was an English feminist and politician active in the women's suffrage movement, the Women's Co-operative Guild, the peace movement, adult education, the family planning movement, an ...

* Eleanor Rathbone * Amelia Scott * Evelyn Sharp * Nessie Stewart-Brown * Janie Terrero * Mary Ward * Edith Grey Wheelwright *

Ellen Wilkinson Ellen Cicely Wilkinson (8 October 1891 – 6 February 1947) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Education from July 1945 until her death. Earlier in her career, as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jarrow, s ...

Commemoration

In 2022

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

announced that the NUWSS would be commemorated with a blue plaque at site of their headquarters in Westminster during the years immediately before the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918.

Formation and campaigning

Political bias

NUWSS during World War I

Activities after World War I

Notable members of NUWSS

Archives

Commemoration

See also

References

Further reading