William Ball (1862 – ?) was a British workers union member, jailed for his support of women's suffrage, and subject of a

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 and ...

pamphlet, "Torture In An English Prison", which described his experience being

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 ...

such that his health deteriorated and he was sent to a lunatic asylum.

Life

William Ball was born in

Coton, Staffordshire Coton is a hamlet in the English county of Staffordshire. It lies on the A518 road some two miles west of Gnosall Gnosall is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Stafford, Staffordshire, England, with a population of 4,736 across 2, ...

in 1862 and married Jennie with whom he had five children. Ball was a member of the

National Transport Workers Federation The National Transport Workers' Federation (NTWF) was an association of Great Britain, British trade unions. It was formed in 1910 to co-ordinate the activities of various organisations catering for dockers, seamen, tramwaymen and road transport wo ...

. He was an athlete and a "championship sprinter" of the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. According to the

pamphlet ''Torture In An English Prison'', neither he nor his family had any history of mental illness.

Imprisonment and consequences

Ball's arrest and imprisonment in December 1911 was for breaking two panes of the Home Office windows in protest at the jailing of another man, Alan MacDougall, who had supported the

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 ...

s attending political meetings. Ball also was against the Manhood Suffrage Bill which "would bar the passage of a measure for votes for women". Force-feeding (suffragettes)

A first offence, but with a sentence of two months at

Pentonville Pentonville is an area on the northern fringe of Central London, in the London Borough of Islington. It is located north-northeast of Charing Cross on the Inner Ring Road. Pentonville developed in the northwestern edge of the ancient parish o ...

prison, Ball was denied the right to wear his own clothes, like the women suffragettes at the same time. He refused prison clothing and 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 ...

, was

for the first time on Christmas Day and then twice daily for 37 days. This "disgusting" process meant being held down by two warders, "a tube thrust up his nose and down his throat". Ball was forbidden from writing to his wife, Jennie, and denied visits, despite her frequent letters of appeal to the prison governor, Major Owen Davies. With four dependent children and only one wage, Jennie wrote to the Prison Commission, Home Office with a request to insure Ball's life, which would require a doctor's visit to assess his health. This too was denied with a statement from the prison that he was in his "usual health" and due for discharge on 21 February; but on 12 February, she was then informed that he was certified insane and transferred to a pauper's asylum. Solicitor Arthur Marshall, husband of WSPU's

Kitty Marshall Kitty or Kittie may refer to: Animals * Cat, a small, domesticated carnivorous mammal ** Kitten, a young cat Film * Kitty Films, an anime production company in Japan * ''Kitty'' (1929 film), based on the Deeping novel; the first British talk ...

took Jennie to the Home Office to find out Ball was at

Colney Hatch Colney Hatch () is the historical name for a small district within the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Colney Hatch refers to a loosely defined area centred on the northern end of Colney Hatch Lane (B550), which connects Friern ...

, Barnet. On visiting, Ball's wife found him "very seriously ill and in an exceedingly

emaciated Emaciation is defined as the state of extreme thinness from absence of body fat and muscle wasting usually resulting from malnutrition. Characteristics In humans, the physical appearance of emaciation includes thinned limbs, pronounced and protrud ...

condition with nose and throat swollen and inflamed from forcible feeding." He could not talk, but in whispers said he had been in a locked punishment cell on two occasions. Arthur Marshall represented Ball's wife to the

Lunacy Commission The Commissioners in Lunacy or Lunacy Commission were a public body established by the Lunacy Act 1845 to oversee asylums and the welfare of mentally ill people in England and Wales. It succeeded the Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy. Previo ...

and got permission to move Ball to a private nursing home, paid for by his suffragette sympathisers.

"Torture In An English Prison"

The WSPU made the point that he was secretly moved to the lunatic asylum. It also included

Mary Leigh Mary Leigh (née Brown; 1885–1978) was an English political activist and suffragette. Life Leigh was born as Mary or Marie Brown in 1885. She was born in Manchester and was a schoolteacher until her marriage to a builder, surnamed Leigh. She j ...

's description of force feeding:

...the drums of the ears seem to be bursting, and there is a horrible pain in the throat and breast...

The WSPU handbill '''Torture in an English Prison''' and the leaflet '''The Case of William Ball can be seen at the Museum of London. The

Men's League for Women's Suffrage The Men's League for Women's Suffrage may refer to: *The Men's League, United States women's suffrage group, also known as the Men's Equal Suffrage League and the Men's League for Women's Suffrage *The Men's League for Women's Suffrage (United King ...

was told about the case at a March 1912 meeting in the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...

, Langham Place, London. This was on the same day that the shop windows in

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

and Picadilly area were being broken by small groups of suffragettes, resulting in charges of "conspiracy" against the women leaders of WSPU. The leaflet theme ''Brutality on the Increase'' and outrage at the treatment of Ball was supported by influential male speakers:

George Lansbury George Lansbury (22 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1929–31, he spent ...

, M.P. for Bow and Bromley (

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

), Charles Mansell-Moullin and Victor Duval (brother of

Elsie Duval Elsie Diederichs Duval (1892–1919) was a British suffragette. She was arrested many times throughout her life and in 1913 became the first woman to be released from Holloway Prison under the so-called 'Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill He ...

), a founder of the Men's Political Union group. At her eighth trial, for suffragette activism, at Bow Street Court, for breaking Post Office windows, Ellen (Nellie//Nelliy) Crocker, cousin of

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence (; 21 October 1867 – 11 March 1954) was a British women's rights activist and suffragette. Early life Pethick-Lawrence was born in Bristol as Emmeline Pethick. Her father, Henry Pethick, w ...

, denounced the hard sentences given to Ball and MacDougall as part of the justification for her own actions. In February 1912,

Mary Gawthorpe Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe (12 January 1881 – 12 March 1973) was an English suffragette, socialist, trade unionist and editor. She was described by Rebecca West as "a merry militant saint". Life Gawthorpe was born in Woodhouse, Leeds to John Ga ...

broke a window at the Home Office in protest at William Ball's imprisonment. Ball gets a specific mention in the National Archive records of the 1,000 women's suffrage supporters arrested and imprisoned during 1906–1914.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, William People from Birmingham, West Midlands English suffragettes English trade unionists Force-feeding Torture in England Hunger strikers 1862 births Year of death missing