174. Men disappointing women
A History of England24 Dec 2023

174. Men disappointing women

The first couple of years of the Liberal government elected in 1906 saw some achievements but also a great deal of frustration. The Unionist majority in the House of Lords annulled the Liberals’ in the Commons. That blocked many of the government’s initiatives.

This period ended in August 1907 when Campbell-Bannerman, the Prime Minister, started a series of three heart attacks over the next fifteen months. Ultimately, they left him bedbound until, in April 1908, he became the only Prime Minister to die in 10 Downing Street.

Meanwhile, in the women’s movement, and in particular among the Suffragists of Millicent Fawcett’s National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, the NUWSS, dominated by Liberals, there had been great hopes of seeing progress with a Liberal government in power. They were dashed by Campbell-Bannerman’s refusal to act. In part, this was down to party considerations, since both organisations were looking not for universal adult suffrage, but only equality of voting rights with men, on the existing basis. That would only enfranchise relatively well-off women, and they would be inclined to vote Conservative.

Just as the NUWSS was linked to the Liberals, so the other main organisation, Emmeline Pankhurst’s Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) was closely bound to Labour. However, the Pankhursts – both Emmeline and her daughter and closest collaborator Christabel – began to lose faith in Labour from the very time they set up the WSPU. They favoured more militant action, such as intervening in public meetings and heckling speakers. The effectiveness of their campaigning in gaining publicity for the movement even persuaded Fawcett took move towards direct methods, for instance in organising the 3000-strong ‘Mud March’ in 1907.

But when HH Asquith, an opponent of women’s suffrage, took over as Prime Minister from Campbell-Bannerman, and it became clear that the government wasn’t going to advance the women’s cause anytime soon, the two organisations’ ways began to part. The SWPU began to explore far more militant tactics yet, which the NUWSS wouldn’t be prepared to adopt.

That, though, is for later episodes…



Illustration: Christabel Pankhurst, by Ethel Wright, in a portrait exhibited in 1909

National Portrait Gallery 6921

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.


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3. A bit of a mess

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At last, Henry VIII's wish could be fulfilled. He left the throne to his son. A male heir, just what he'd always wanted. Well, it wasn't that simple, First of all, Edward VI was only 9 when he came to the throne. Real power was exercised by a Regency Council that was - and this may shock you - not massively competent and rather more concerned with its own interests than with the nation's. What's more, Edward was England's first definitively Protestant monarch. A second shock for you will be to discover that a zealot for the oher side could be just much of a vandal as his enemies on the other. The illustration is a 19th century engraving of Edward VI, ©Georgios Kollidas/123RF.COM

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We got to know Henry VIII a bit in chapter 1. We also talked a little about his wives, and it seems only right that we think about them a bit more now, especially since having a lot of wives is what Henry's best known for. So chapter 2 takes a look at their stories, at why Henry married them (well, the other reasons, apart from his attraction to young women), and to what extent he hit his objective. And, to surprise and amuse us all, we end with an unusual example of foresight and enlightened thinking from a monarch generally better known for self-serving authoritarianism. The picture is a detail of a British stamp showing the face of Catherine Howard, the wife who was rather too free with her charms for the taste of of her husband. ©Andy Lidstone/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

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A History of England (Trailer)

A History of England (Trailer)

21 Nov 202036s

1. Bloody Henry

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Welcome to A History of England. As well as the podcast, there's a series of accompanying booklets, available as a paperback or a Kindle download. The first, covering episodes 1-35, is available on Amazon now. Just look for David Beeson A History of England. We can't get started without taking a moment to acknowledge the Spanish journalist and novelist, Arturo Perez Reverte. It was his Una Historia d'España, A History of Spain that inspired me to make this series. I like the idea of really short chapters, which I've imitated. I like the use of a normal sort of language,  and not fine, carefully modulated diction. But above all, what I liked was the idea of A history and not The history of the nation. I make no pretence at writing some academic tome. I make no pretence of academic detachment. I do make a pretence, or rather the attempt, to get the facts as right as possible. However, it's a particular view. Above all, it's less about discovering what England did at any particular point over the last few centuries, as about understanding how, by doing it, England got Britain to where it is today.  Let's get started. With, sensibly enough, Chapter One. It's dedicated to Henry VIII or, as I think of him, Bloody Henry. Picture: ©Satori/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

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