The Stornoway Women's Suffrage Association was an organisation that campaigned 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 ...

, based in

Stornoway Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well a ...

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

in the Western Isles of Scotland, the

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...

Hebridean women's lives

The association was formed of 25 women, from a community very different from the middle class London or working class factory women joining the big city suffrage societies, or the militant

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 ...

(

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 ...

) activities elsewhere in Scotland and across Britain. Hebridean women were mainly heavy manual workers, physically strong women who gutted fish for the herring trawler industry, following the fleet locally, and travelling with other women from fishing villages around the coast of Scotland and Britain in the herring season. Despite being disallowed to vote, many of the women made a significant financial contribution to the islands (£75,000 p.a. before the

First World War 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 ...

). Others worked in

crofting Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production particular to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th century townships, individual crofts were established on the bette ...

, in small plots growing crops and keeping animals, whilst their men were at sea. At that time, men contributed less to the islands' prosperity (£25,000 p.a.) than did the fisherwomen. The notion of a woman's rights to work and travel was normal in coastal communities, making it a simpler case for equal franchise. The Stornoway Town Council supported the movement to give women the vote, before the '' Representation of the People Act (1918)'' made it real. Women on the remotest island, St. Kilda (now uninhabited), were among the first to vote. At the start of

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 ...

, munitions factories recruited about 500 Hebridean women. Women from the islands who were formally educated and went on to work internationally included Dr Helen McDougall, who became a doctor and radiographer in the Scottish Women's Hospital in Serbia during World War I, but was less celebrated than her brother.

Society activities

The SWSS, like others associations in Scotland, was affiliated with the

National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies 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 societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was ren ...

. Despite their rural setting members spoke at public meetings, distributed fliers, and wrote articles in the local press to promote women's suffrage. Even prior to the formation of the society, they invited speakers such as

Jessie Craigen Jessie Hannah Craigen (''c''.1835–5 October 1899), was a Working class, working-class suffrage speaker in a movement which was predominantly made up of middle and upper-class activists. She was also a freelance (or 'paid agent') speaker in th ...

from the better known suffrage movement in larger cities.

Centenary production

In 2018 to celebrate the centenary of the passing of the 1918 Representation of the People Act (which gave some women the right to vote), the play ''Deeds Not Words'' was commissioned. Researched and written by Toria Banks and directed by Muriel Ann Macleod, with music by Mary Ann Kennedy, it toured the Hebrides with a cast and production team of local women and those from other parts of Scotland. The play was sponsored b
Rural Nations Scotland CIC
and others to celebrate the women's suffrage movement in the Hebrides, a hidden history of local engagement in the national struggle for women's suffrage prior to 1918. Director Macleod said:

References

{{Hebrides Feminist organisations in the United Kingdom Scottish suffragists Suffrage organisations in the United Kingdom Women's suffrage in Scotland

Hebridean women's lives

Society activities

Centenary production

Further reading

See also

References