The Church League for Women's Suffrage (CLWS) was an organisation campaigning for

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 Brita ...

. The league was started in London, but by 1913 it had branches across England, in Wales and Scotland and Ireland.

Aims and achievements

This organisation aimed to 'Secure the Vote in Church and State as it is, or may be granted to men'. It was over a century later that females were permitted to be ordained as bishops within the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. The Church League in 1914 allowed individuals to participate in other movements for the cause of women's equality but their own organisation's 'only methods.. are those of Prayer and Education". A benefit of the League was to refute the charge that the Church was indifferent to the matter of women's right to vote. The first woman to preach in a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

church, which was done with the approval of the

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

and the church's governors, was Edith Picton-Turbervill. She was speaking in Ireland under the auspices of the CLWS.

Notable members

The League was founded by the Reverend

Claude Hinscliff Claude Hinscliff Church League for Women's Suffrage meeting in Brighton Reverend Claude Hinscliff (1875–1964) was a British suffragist. He was a leading person in the Church League for Women's Suffrage. Education and early career Hinscliff stu ...

in 1909, who was its secretary for a long time. Other founding members included

Margaret Nevinson Margaret Wynne Nevinson (née Jones; 11 January 1858 – 8 June 1932) was a British suffrage campaigner and author. She was one of the radical activists who in 1907–8 split from established suffragist groups to form the Women's Freedom Le ...

and Olive Wharry, and

Joan Cather Joan Cather (1882–1967) was a suffragette, awarded a Hunger Strike Medal, 'For Valour' and a Holloway brooch for imprisonment in the cause of women's rights to vote, and also as protest refused to take part in the 1911 British Census. Life ...

, whose husband Lt. John Leonard Cather was chair of its finance committee. Notable members included Ellen Oliver, Frances Balfour and

Louise Creighton Louise Hume Creighton (née von Glehn; 7 July 1850 – 15 April 1936) was a British author of books on historical and sociopolitical topics, and an activist for a greater representation of women in society, including women's suffrage, and in th ...

and the more militant

Muriel Matters Muriel Lilah Matters (12 November 1877 – 17 November 1969) also known as Muriel Matters-Porter, was an Australian-born suffragist, lecturer, journalist, educator, actress and elocutionist. Based in Britain from 1905 until her death, Matters i ...

, Florence Canning, and the outstanding

Maude Royden Agnes Maude Royden (23 November 1876 – 30 July 1956), later known as Maude Royden-Shaw, was an English preacher, suffragist and campaigner for the ordination of women. Early life and education Royden was born in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, the ...

, Lady

Constance Lytton Lady Constance Georgina Bulwer-Lytton (12 February 1869 – 22 May 1923), usually known as Constance Lytton, was an influential British suffragette activist, writer, speaker and campaigner for prison reform, votes for women, and birth control. S ...

and Katherine Harley.

Emily Wilding Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and a militant fighter ...

, who died under the King's horse at Epsom, was a member, and her funeral was held at

St George's, Bloomsbury St George's, Bloomsbury, is a parish church in Bloomsbury, London Borough of Camden, United Kingdom. It was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and consecrated in 1730. The church crypt houses the #Museum of Comedy, Museum of Comedy. History The C ...

, led by its vicar, Charles Baumgarten (also a member of the League), Claude Hinscliff, and

Charles Escreet Charles Ernest Escreet (20 February 1852 – 3 March 1919) was an Anglican priest: the Archdeacon of Lewisham from 1906 to 1919. Life Escreet was educated at Tonbridge School and Wadham College, Oxford. He was ordained in 1875 and began his c ...

Archdeacon of Lewisham The Archdeacons in the Diocese of Southwark are senior clergy in the Church of England in South London and Surrey. They currently include: the archdeacons of Southwark, of Reigate (formerly of Kingston-on-Thames) and of Lewisham & Greenwich ...

. The doctor,

Letitia Fairfield Josephine Letitia Denny Fairfield MB CM MD (10 March 1885 – 1 February 1978) was a medical doctor, a lawyer, a war-worker, and the first ever female Chief Medical Officer for London. She received a CBE for her outstanding achievements in ...

, was also a member and talks about the work of the League in 2 interviews with the historian, Brian Harrison, conducted as part of the Suffrage Interviews project, titled ''Oral evidence on the suffragette and suffragist movements: the Brian Harrison interviews.'' The Irish Church had resisted the League because it refused to denounce the behaviour of militant suffragettes. By 1913 Florence Canning led the executive committee and she was one of six of the thirteen members identified for their militancy.

The League of the Church Militant

After the end of World War I, and the passage of the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) was an act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The act extended the franchise in pa ...

, which gave votes to many but not all women, the League decided to re-focus its efforts. In 1919 it renamed itself The League of the Church Militant. It continued to lobby to extend the franchise to achieve equality with men (

Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 ( 18 & 19 Geo. 5. c. 12) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This act expanded on the Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) which had given som ...

), and a range of other theologically liberal causes It also focussed its efforts on the

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

. However, its suffrage associations limited its work, and it dissolved shortly before the 1930

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference convenes as the Archbishop of Canterbury summons an assembly of Anglican bishops every ten years. The first took place at Lambeth in 1867. As regional and national churches freely associate with the Anglican Communion, ...

, a gathering of Anglican Communion bishops from around the world. It was replaced by the

Anglican Group for the Ordination of Women to the Historic Ministry The Anglican Group for the Ordination of Women to the Historic Ministry of the Church existed from 1930 to 1978. By research, education, publicity, and memorials to the church, it pushed the Church of England and the whole Anglican Communion to adm ...

(1930-1978).

References

Bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Church League for Women's Suffrage 1909 establishments in the United Kingdom Anglican feminism Anglican organizations established in the 20th century Feminist organisations in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1909 Social history of the United Kingdom Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom Women's organisations based in the United Kingdom Ordination of women in the Anglican Communion

Aims and achievements

Notable members

The League of the Church Militant

See also

References

Bibliography