The History of Fighting

Image: A suffragette being force-fed with a nasal tube c.1911.

“As authorities refused to treat the suffragettes as political prisoners, they began going on hunger strike, a form of protest first implemented by artist, author and illustrator Marion Wallace-Dunlop. However, they soon found themselves victims of a barbaric practice when, in 1909, Evaline Hilda Burkitt became the first suffragette to be force-fed. Not only did this fail to achieve its intended goal of ending hunger strikes, but it also gained support for the WSPU from some members of the press and the public who had previously denounced them.”

Excerpt taken from the article, ‘Forgotten Heroes – The Story of the Unsung Suffrage Campaigners of Great Britain’. The article was written by me, Andrew Griffiths, to promote my new book, ‘The Forgotten Heroes of the British Suffrage Movement’, due to be published by Pen and Sword on 30 May 2026. This date is 97 years to the day since women were first permitted to vote on the same terms as men (and universal suffrage was achieved), effectively ending the struggle for female enfranchisement in the UK.

Bottom: Mrs. Pankhurst addressing a crowd c.1910 with her daughter Christabel sat next to her.