Photo: Norah Smyth
Unlike most other women’s suffrage societies, the East London Federation of the Suffragettes did not suspend their campaigning activities during WWI. But they did change their priorities and their approach.
Many members of the Federation were opposed to the War, and after 1916 the organisation openly campaigned against conscription, executions for cowardice and wartime restrictions on free speech. However, at the start of the War they launched a number of relief initiatives which would continue long after the War ended.
How did the outbreak of the First World War affect the East End?
Within a few weeks of the outbreak of war many East End factories had closed. Workers had no benefits to fall back on and little chance of finding another position. At the same time, panic-buying caused food prices to rise rapidly.
As men on the Army reserves list were called up and others enlisted, many women were suddenly left alone to provide for their family, sometimes with just a few hours’ notice. While separation allowances to provide for soldier’s wives and children were slowly introduced, they were not generous, were often paid late and could be suspended for weeks at a time. The queues at town halls all over the country were enormous, and marriage and birth certificates requested as proof cost money to acquire, and were frequently lost by the administration.
With only antiquated Poor Laws, the workhouse, and minimal National Insurance coverage in place of a welfare state, within weeks of war’s outbreak many families in the East End were facing starvation. People began to arrive at the suffragettes’ Women’s Hall at 400 Old Ford Road seeking help.
How did the East London suffragettes help the War Effort?
Although most ELFS members were opposed to the War, they worked tirelessly to help local families that were affected by it. Sylvia Pankhurst wrote a letter to The Times calling for donations and they soon began to receive money to buy milk for starving babies, which they gave out from the Women’s Hall on Old Ford Road, and also from centres in Canning Town, Stepney and Poplar.
The suffragettes opened a clinic to treat the children worst affected by hunger and disease, a nursery where women could leave their children safely while they went out to work, and three canteens serving nutritious food at “cost price”, anticipating the Government’s National Kitchens by several years. The suffragettes even opened a cooperative toy factory, where local women could earn a living wage and learn a trade at the same time.
The Bow Suffragette Toy Factory
In October 1914, Sylvia Pankhurst, with the financial assistance of Norah Smyth, opened the East London Toy Factory at 45 Norman Road (now Norman Grove), in an effort to provide work for East End women who had lost their jobs through the war. The factory was run on cooperative lines and the workers were paid a generous minimum wage of 5d an hour or £1 a week.
The first toys produced were simple flat wooden animals, but soon the factory was producing jointed wooden toys, stuffed animals and soft dolls with wax and china heads. The toys were very popular, and were sold in Selfridges, Liberty’s, Gamage’s and other department stores.
The Mother’s Arms
On the corner of Old Ford Road and St Stephen’s Road was a disused public house, which at one time was called the Gunmakers’ Arms, as it lay opposite a weapons factory. The ELFS set to work refurbishing the place, and in April 1915, the Mother’s Arms opened as a mother and baby clinic, free milk depot and day nursery.
The project was a huge success. In 1916 writer Israel Zangwill said that “…the hope of the world lies in changing the Gunmaker’s Arms into the Mother’s Arms.”
Milk depots
The East London Federation of Suffragettes began distributing milk to feed starving infants from their Women’s Hall at 400 Old Ford Road.
Over the next few weeks, other war relief offices were opened, first at 319 East India Dock Road, and Crowder Hall, Bow Road, then the Poplar Women’s Hall was opened at 20 Railway Street and 53 St Leonard’s Street, Bromley. Later, a centre was opened in Canning Town, first at Butcher’s Road, and later at 55 Fife Road.
Soon all these centres were providing free milk to mothers with babies, together with Virol, eggs and barley, as well as free leaflets and feeding charts about infant health.
Cost Price Restaurants
Another ELFS initiative launched in the early years of the War were ‘cost price’ restaurants, which served nutritious hot food for very low prices. “Cost price” was intended as a “slogan against profiteering”, and the Federation aimed to serve “two-penny, two-course meals to adults, penny meals to children, at midday; and each evening a pint of hot soup and a chunk of bread for a penny; to be consumed on the premises or taken home.”
The first restaurant was opened at 400 Old Ford Road, with others following at the other women’s centres at 20 Railway Street in Poplar and 53 Leonard Street in Bromley. All three became very popular, and the provision of meals for over 100 people each mealtime with very scant facilities was no mean feat. As writer Miles Franklin observed admiringly: “Dear me, what courage, industry and sheer grit it takes to keep clean these ramshackle, mouldy places with the tin-pot means of accomplishment at hand.”
After the War
Just before the War ended in 1918, women over 30 who owned property were finally awarded the vote. Although most of the poor women members of the ELFS were still excluded, they changed their name to the Workers’ Socialist Federation and began to focus more on worker’s rights than women’s rights. The Mother’s Arms stayed open until 1921, and the whole organisation finally closed down in 1924.
Although the East London Federation of Suffragettes only existed for a few years, it made a tremendous impact, in the East End and beyond. The Federation worked tirelessly to win over the people of east London to the cause of votes for women, and succeeded. Through their war work they not only changed lives but saved them, and they deserve to be more widely remembered today.
Many members of the Federation were opposed to the War, and after 1916 the organisation openly campaigned against conscription, executions for cowardice and wartime restrictions on free speech. However, at the start of the War they launched a number of relief initiatives which would continue long after the War ended.
How did the outbreak of the First World War affect the East End?
Within a few weeks of the outbreak of war many East End factories had closed. Workers had no benefits to fall back on and little chance of finding another position. At the same time, panic-buying caused food prices to rise rapidly.
As men on the Army reserves list were called up and others enlisted, many women were suddenly left alone to provide for their family, sometimes with just a few hours’ notice. While separation allowances to provide for soldier’s wives and children were slowly introduced, they were not generous, were often paid late and could be suspended for weeks at a time. The queues at town halls all over the country were enormous, and marriage and birth certificates requested as proof cost money to acquire, and were frequently lost by the administration.
With only antiquated Poor Laws, the workhouse, and minimal National Insurance coverage in place of a welfare state, within weeks of war’s outbreak many families in the East End were facing starvation. People began to arrive at the suffragettes’ Women’s Hall at 400 Old Ford Road seeking help.
How did the East London suffragettes help the War Effort?
Although most ELFS members were opposed to the War, they worked tirelessly to help local families that were affected by it. Sylvia Pankhurst wrote a letter to The Times calling for donations and they soon began to receive money to buy milk for starving babies, which they gave out from the Women’s Hall on Old Ford Road, and also from centres in Canning Town, Stepney and Poplar.
The suffragettes opened a clinic to treat the children worst affected by hunger and disease, a nursery where women could leave their children safely while they went out to work, and three canteens serving nutritious food at “cost price”, anticipating the Government’s National Kitchens by several years. The suffragettes even opened a cooperative toy factory, where local women could earn a living wage and learn a trade at the same time.
The Bow Suffragette Toy Factory
In October 1914, Sylvia Pankhurst, with the financial assistance of Norah Smyth, opened the East London Toy Factory at 45 Norman Road (now Norman Grove), in an effort to provide work for East End women who had lost their jobs through the war. The factory was run on cooperative lines and the workers were paid a generous minimum wage of 5d an hour or £1 a week.
The first toys produced were simple flat wooden animals, but soon the factory was producing jointed wooden toys, stuffed animals and soft dolls with wax and china heads. The toys were very popular, and were sold in Selfridges, Liberty’s, Gamage’s and other department stores.
The Mother’s Arms
On the corner of Old Ford Road and St Stephen’s Road was a disused public house, which at one time was called the Gunmakers’ Arms, as it lay opposite a weapons factory. The ELFS set to work refurbishing the place, and in April 1915, the Mother’s Arms opened as a mother and baby clinic, free milk depot and day nursery.
The project was a huge success. In 1916 writer Israel Zangwill said that “…the hope of the world lies in changing the Gunmaker’s Arms into the Mother’s Arms.”
Milk depots
The East London Federation of Suffragettes began distributing milk to feed starving infants from their Women’s Hall at 400 Old Ford Road.
Over the next few weeks, other war relief offices were opened, first at 319 East India Dock Road, and Crowder Hall, Bow Road, then the Poplar Women’s Hall was opened at 20 Railway Street and 53 St Leonard’s Street, Bromley. Later, a centre was opened in Canning Town, first at Butcher’s Road, and later at 55 Fife Road.
Soon all these centres were providing free milk to mothers with babies, together with Virol, eggs and barley, as well as free leaflets and feeding charts about infant health.
Cost Price Restaurants
Another ELFS initiative launched in the early years of the War were ‘cost price’ restaurants, which served nutritious hot food for very low prices. “Cost price” was intended as a “slogan against profiteering”, and the Federation aimed to serve “two-penny, two-course meals to adults, penny meals to children, at midday; and each evening a pint of hot soup and a chunk of bread for a penny; to be consumed on the premises or taken home.”
The first restaurant was opened at 400 Old Ford Road, with others following at the other women’s centres at 20 Railway Street in Poplar and 53 Leonard Street in Bromley. All three became very popular, and the provision of meals for over 100 people each mealtime with very scant facilities was no mean feat. As writer Miles Franklin observed admiringly: “Dear me, what courage, industry and sheer grit it takes to keep clean these ramshackle, mouldy places with the tin-pot means of accomplishment at hand.”
After the War
Just before the War ended in 1918, women over 30 who owned property were finally awarded the vote. Although most of the poor women members of the ELFS were still excluded, they changed their name to the Workers’ Socialist Federation and began to focus more on worker’s rights than women’s rights. The Mother’s Arms stayed open until 1921, and the whole organisation finally closed down in 1924.
Although the East London Federation of Suffragettes only existed for a few years, it made a tremendous impact, in the East End and beyond. The Federation worked tirelessly to win over the people of east London to the cause of votes for women, and succeeded. Through their war work they not only changed lives but saved them, and they deserve to be more widely remembered today.
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