Flora McKinnon Drummond

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Flora McKinnon Drummond (nee Gibson, later Simpson), (born August 4, 1878 in Manchester , † January 7, 1949 in Carradale , Kintyre ), was a British suffragette . Because of her habit of leading the women's rights demonstration on a large horse in military style - dressed in uniform with an officer's cap and epaulettes - she was nicknamed "The General". Drummond was the organizer of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and has been jailed nine times for her ' women's suffrage activism '. Its main political activity was the organization and management of rallies, marches and demonstrations . She was a skillful and inspiring speaker and had a reputation for handling hecklers with ease.

Early life

Flora McKinnon Gibson was born on August 4, 1878 in Manchester to Sarah (née Cook) and Frank Gibson. Her father was a tailor. While Flora was a young child, the family moved to Pirnmill on the island of Arran , where the mother had her roots. She left school at the age of 14 and moved to Glasgow , where she took a training course at a civil servants' school to become a post office worker. She qualified, but was rejected when she was hired because she did not meet the newly created minimum height requirement due to her small body height of one inch. Although she went on to achieve a shorthand and typewriting qualification, she continued to feel discriminated against, that it was forbidden for women to become postal workers just because of their smaller average height. After marrying Joseph Drummond, she moved back to her hometown and was active with her husband in the Fabian Society and the Independent Labor Party.

Political activities

Flora Drummond (far left) with Christabel Pankhurst , Annie Kenney , (unknown), Emmeline Pankhurst , Charlotte Despard and (unknown), 1906–1907
Flora Drummond with Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, 1908

Flora Drummond joined the WSPU in 1906. After an election meeting of the Liberal Party in the “Free Trade Hall” in Manchester, Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney were arrested for urging the candidate Winston Churchill to answer the following question: “If you are elected, you will do your best to make Women's Suffrage a government measure? ”(German: If you are elected, will you do your best to make women's suffrage a government issue? ) When the two women were released, the WSPU held a ceremony in Manchester , attended the Flora, who had witnessed their arrests, and then joined the movement out of conviction. Shortly thereafter, Flora moved to London, and by the end of 1906 she had completed her first stay in Holloway after being arrested at the House of Commons .

Flora became known for her daring and headline-filling pranks and tricks. In 1906 she slipped through the open door of 10 Downing Street while her comrade Irene Miller was arrested for knocking on the door. In 1908, Flora rented a boat so that she could approach the Palace of Westminster from the river side of the Thames in order to address the Members of Parliament who were sitting on the river terrace. Flora Drummond was the main organizer of the meeting in Trafalgar Square in October 1908, which led to a three-month jail stay in Holloway prison, together with Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst , for "incitement to rush the House of Commons" (German: Anfeuerung das House of Commons to storm ). The women were given the choice of either a twelve month commitment to peace or imprisonment. All three chose Holloway Prison. Flora was in the first trimester of pregnancy (with her son Keir); after she passed out and was taken to the prison hospital, she was released from custody because of poor health. As Drummond prison left, Emmeline Pankhurst broke the code of silence that prohibited the inmates to talk to each other and exclaimed: "I am glad Because now you will be able to carry on the work." (German: 'I 'm glad because now you will be able to continue the work. ')

Flora Drummond (far left), Jennie Baines and Emmeline Pethick Lawrence, 1906–1910

In October 1909, Drummond organized the first militant demonstration in Edinburgh . It was in response to a critical comment by the WSPU leadership in its newsletter Votes for Women , which made the following statement: “Beautiful, haughty, dignified, stern Edinburgh, with your cautious steadfast people, you have not yet woken up to take part in our militant methods. “(German: beautiful, haughty, venerable, serious Edinburgh, with your careful, thoughtful people, you have not yet awakened to participate with our militant methods. ). The theme of the march was: "Have done and can do and will do" (German: We have done it and can and will do it again ). The procession showed women carrying banners and playing the bagpipes; they ran either in their work clothes or as female characters from Scottish history. Tens of thousands took to the streets of Edinburgh to watch the parade; it was considered a success by the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch newspaper .

In 1913, Drummond and Annie Kenney arranged a meeting between WSPU officials and leaders David Lloyd George and Sir Edward Gray . The meeting was on the condition that working class women representing their class be present. They explained the dire wages and working conditions they had to endure and they expressed their hope that voting rights would enable women to influence the status quo in a democratic way. Alice Hawkins from Leicester explained that her male colleagues could choose a man to represent her, while the women were left without representation.

Drummond in the midst of other Scottish suffragettes, all wearing tartan sashes

In May 1914, Drummond and Norah Dacre Fox (later known as Norah Elam) besieged the homes of Lord Carson and Lord Lansdowne, who were prominent Members of Parliament of the Ulster Union that had directly sparked militancy in Ulster that was directed against the Home Rule Bill , the was discussed in Parliament at the time. Drummond and Dacre Fox both had summons to appear before the authorities for giving inflammatory speeches and for encouraging women to be militant. Their response to journalists' questions was that they thought they could take refuge with Lord Carson and Lord Lansdowne, who had made equally inflammatory speeches and encouraged militancy in Ireland, but who were safe from the intervention of the authorities for their actions seemed to be. Later that day, both women appeared in court, were sentenced to detention and taken to Holloway, where they immediately went on a hunger strike and were force-fed for a period of time.

Withdrawal from activism

She was physically removed from Drummond's prison terms, which included multiple hunger strikes; In 1914 she spent some time on Arran to regain her health. After her return to London at the outbreak of World War I , she preferred to concentrate her efforts on public speaking and administration and avoided direct action to avoid further imprisonment. She remained prominent within the women's movement and was a pallbearer at Emmeline Pankhurst's funeral in 1928.

In the 1930s, Drummond founded the Women's Guild of Empire, a right-wing league that opposed communism and fascism. Her former militant partner, Norah Elam, who had become a senior member of Mosley's British Union of Fascists , wrote an insulting attack on the "Guild" calling it an anti-fascist circus and describing her former girlfriend as an "extinct volcano".

Flora and Joseph Drummond divorced in 1922 and later that year married a cousin, Alan Simpson. Alan was killed in a bombing raid in 1944; Flora died in 1949 at the age of 70 after a stroke.

Appreciation

Her name and picture (and 58 other supporters of women's suffrage) are on the base of the Millicent Fawcett statue in Parliament Square , London, which was unveiled in 2018.

See also

Web links

Commons : Flora Drummond  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Flora McKinnon Drummond's entry in ODNB.Retrieved April 8, 2019
  2. ↑ Wendy Parkins: Fashioning the Body Politic : Berg Publishers 2002. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-85973-587-9
  3. ^ England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008 . Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  4. ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538–1975 . Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  5. ↑ Malcolm Chandler: Votes for Women, C, 1900-1928 . Heinemann 2001, p. 8. ISBN 978-0-435-32731-6
  6. ↑ Elizabeth Crawford: The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866-1928 . Routledge 2001. pp. 175-177. ISBN 978-0-415-23926-4
  7. ^ Girvin Edith: The Twentieth Century . Heinemann 2002. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-435-32093-5
  8. ↑ Biography of Flora Drummond.Retrieved April 8, 2019
  9. ↑ June Purvis: Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography. Routledge 2002. pp. 113-117. ISBN 978-0-415-23978-3
  10. ^ Sian Reynolds: Paris-Edinburgh: Cultural Connections in the Belle Epoque. Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2007. | Pp. 188-189. ISBN 978-0-7546-3464-5
  11. ↑ "The imposing display achieved its object. It advertised to tens of thousands the aim of the suffragettes ... [B] ehind this movement there is a solid phalanx of resolute and unflinching womanhood bent upon obtaining the vote and fully determined that they will triumph over every obstacle. " (German: The impressive show achieved its goal. It brought the tens of thousands closer to the goal of the suffragettes ... Behind this movement there is a solid phalanx of resolute and unyielding women, fulfilled with the goal of gaining the right to vote and full of determination that they should over any obstacle. ) Edinburgh Evening Dispatch , quoted in Reynolds 2007.
  12. ↑ The New Statesman on "Let's not forget the working class suffragettes" (Let's not forget our working class suffragettes!) Retrieved April 8, 2019
  13. ↑ Angela McPherson, Susan McPherson: Mosley's Old Suffragette - A Biography of Norah Elam . (2011)
  14. ↑ Historic statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett unveiled in Parliament Square . Gov.uk. April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  15. ↑ Alexandra Topping: First statue of a woman in Parliament Square unveiled . In: The Guardian , April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2019. 
  16. ↑ Millicent Fawcett statue unveiling: the women and men whose names will be on the plinth . iNews. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Drummond, Flora
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flora McKinnon Drummond
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English suffragette
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Manchester
DATE OF DEATH January 7, 1949
Place of death Carradale, Kintyre