{"id":1857,"date":"2020-05-19T17:05:14","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T16:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/?p=1857"},"modified":"2021-12-16T15:39:28","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T15:39:28","slug":"the-1911-census-the-government-and-the-suffragettes-have-a-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/?p=1857","title":{"rendered":"The 1911 census: the government and the suffragettes have a conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 1911 census form provides evidence of the ways in which the suffragettes challenged state authority.\u00a0 This piece was written by second-year UoP history student Ashleigh Hufton for the second-year module, Danger! Censorship, Power and the People.<\/em><\/p>\n

Forms articulate conversations between two parties, argues Dobraszczyk, in an article on the Victorian census. [1]<\/a> \u00a0A 1911 census return form is a useful document to view when analysing the relationship between the liberal government and individual social actors. [2]<\/a>\u00a0 This was the first census to be completed by the homeowner, allowing individuals to choose what information the government attained.[3]<\/a> The suffragettes utilised this power to challenge state authority through their \u201ccensus boycott\u201d. [4]<\/a> Analysis of a suffragette\u2019s census return demonstrates how state control was challenged in 1911, and the political rivalry between the suffragettes and the Liberal government. [5]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The \u201cNo Vote No Census\u201d poster on the return form reflects the conflict between the suffragettes and the government. \u00a0Henry Asquith, the Prime Minister, used his state power to block the suffragettes from enfranchisement, fuelling the political rivalry between the suffragettes and the government.[6]<\/a> \u00a0The \u201cNo Vote No Census<\/em>\u201d poster demonstrates the political response from the suffragettes, to being declined the right to vote.[7]<\/a> The individual is challenging the instruction of higher authority by not only refusing to complete the census, but also by using this poster to mask over questions regarding woman\u2019s fertility and marriage. \u00a0White argues that this was because suffragettes were angered by a state who refused women\u2019s enfranchisement, yet wanted those same women to provide their private information.[8]<\/a> \u00a0The phrase \u201cNo Vote No Census\u201d links this individual to the broader movement of the \u201cNo Votes No Census\u201d campaign, led by the Women\u2019s Freedom League (WFL) and Women\u2019s Political and Social Union<\/em> (WPSU).[9]<\/a> \u00a0This campaign asked suffragettes to boycott the census and undermine government authority, until they granted women the right to vote.[10]<\/a> \u00a0By vandalising the form instead of providing information, this individual is acting in accordance with this campaign. \u00a0This underlines the power of agency, the suffragettes, when united against higher authority, the Liberal government. \u00a0This return is a significant source to study when looking at the challenges to state power during 1911.<\/p>\n

\"Votes<\/a>

Source: Ulysses Ed.07\/Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Ulysses Guimar\u00e3es<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The individual handwrites \u201cNo Persons here only<\/em> women\u201d.[11]<\/a> \u00a0The adverb \u201conly\u201d implies mockery towards the government\u2019s decision to refuse women the right to vote and citizenship.[12]<\/a> This phrase reflects the individual\u2019s anger and upset towards the denial of women\u2019s enfranchisement, and treatment from the state. \u00a0The placement of this phrase at the centre of the form, and the fact that it is handwritten, suggests a personal connection to the words written. \u00a0In 1910 women marched towards parliament in protest due to being denied the vote and were brutally beaten by police – this was known as Black Friday.[13]<\/a> \u00a0The government made it clear on this day that women were not accepted or treated as citizens. The above phrase on the census return is the suffragette\u2019s response to this treatment. \u00a0Liddington highlights that the thought amongst suffragettes, in writing on their census forms was that \u2018if women were not classed as citizens, they should not provide information like citizens\u2019.[14]<\/a> \u00a0This census can therefore be placed within a broader context of the suffragette ideology, as other women reacted similarly to the individual vandalising this census form.[15]<\/a> \u00a0Mayhall underlines that by uniting in their response to the census, women demonstrated their ability to challenge the boundaries of state control as a collective.[16]<\/a><\/p>\n

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The protester uses the \u201ccensus meeting\u201d stickers to further vandalise the form.[17]<\/a>\u00a0 On April 1st<\/sup>, the night before the census, the WFL and WPSU led a rally to assist women in boycotting the census.[18]<\/a> \u00a0These stickers are evidence of how the suffragette movement was rising, despite opposition from the state. \u00a0Waters argues that meetings were key to success for the suffragettes, as they helped spread the word of the boycott.[19]<\/a> \u00a0The stickers reflect the challenge to state authority, as the suffragette movement was clearly still meeting despite the government\u2019s opposition.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

Source: National Library of Wales, https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/nationalassemblyforwales\/26822502678<\/p><\/div>\n

Atkinson, Crawford and White highlight that the \u201ccensus boycott\u201d did not only consist of vandalising census forms.[20]<\/a> \u00a0Suffragettes also challenged government authority by evading the census completely.[21]<\/a>\u00a0 Thus the census return reflects only a section of the overall movement. Despite this, the return still offers an insight into the influence of state power within society.[22]<\/a> \u201cDomestic servant\u201d is written in green ink and written in a different handwriting to the protester.[23]<\/a> This implies that the protester did not write this and is useful in demonstrating the levels of state authority within society. \u00a0Whoever wrote \u201cDomestic servant\u201d was abiding by state control, without the consent of the protestor.\u00a0 Crawford and White underline that when suffragettes refused to complete the census accurately, enumerators or husbands would complete the form on their behalf.[24]<\/a> \u00a0This implies that a third-party intervened and undermined the suffragette\u2019s demonstration of power, by completing her occupation. The census return is clearly useful when looking at the balances of power within society, and how individuals chose to either comply or resist state control.<\/p>\n

This census return was recorded from \u201cKensington\u201d.\u00a0 Upper-class areas such as Kensington and Chelsea were rich in suffragette ideology.[25]<\/a> Crawford and Liddington suggest that Kensington\u2019s easy access to London encouraged stronger suffragette beliefs.[26]<\/a> \u00a0Waters argues that areas close to London were more active in suffragette campaigns.[27]<\/a> \u00a0Yet Liddington highlights that even areas outside of London, such as Nottingham and Staffordshire, experienced resisters.[28]<\/a> \u00a0This adds to the value of this source, as it reflects the widespread influence of the boycott movement in challenging government authority.<\/p>\n

This census return form is significant in demonstrating the conflict between the state and the suffragettes. \u00a0The form underlines a link between this individual and the broader movements of the WFL and WPSU through the \u201cNo Votes no Census\u201d <\/em>campaign, and the support for the \u201cCensus Meeting\u201d. \u00a0This connection is important in considering the power of agency when united against a higher authority. \u00a0It is a useful insight into how the government attempted to control society, and the responses to this by the suffragettes and other individuals. This significant piece of evidence is important in understanding how women fought for their enfranchisement by challenging state control.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Paul Dobraszczyk \u201cGive in your account: Using and Abusing Victorian Census Forms\u201d, Journal of Victorian Culture, <\/em>14, no.1 (2009): 1.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> National Archives, \u201cExample of a non-militant protest in the census for South Kensington, London, 1911\u201d Catalogue ref: RG14-118, https:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/education\/resources\/suffragettes-on-file\/census-boycott\/<\/a> last accessed 30\/3\/2020.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Elizabeth Crawford and Jill Liddington. \u201cWomen do not count, neither shall they be counted\u2019: Suffrage, Citizenship and the Battle for the 1911 Census\u201d, History Workshop Journal<\/em>, 71, no.1 (2011): 98-99.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Crawford and Liddington, \u201cWomen do not count\u201d: 99. ; Michael Waters, \u201cThe Campaign for Women\u2019s Suffrage in York and the 1911 Census Evasion\u201d, A Review of History and Archaeology in the County<\/em>, 90, no.1 (2018): 178. ; Ian White, \u201cNo Vote-No Census: an account of some of the events of 1910-1911\u201d, Population Trends<\/em> 142, no.113, (2010): 35.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Crawford and Liddington, \u201cWomen do not count\u201d: 122.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Diane Atkinson, Rise Up Women! The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes<\/em> (London: Bloomsbury, 2018), 186.; Laura E. Mayhall, The Militant Suffrage Movement: Citizenship and Resistance in Britain, 1860-1930 <\/em>(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 186.; White, \u201cNo Vote-No Census\u201d: 35.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> National Archives, \u201cExample of a non-militant protest\u2019.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> White, \u201cNo Vote-No Census\u201d: 38.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Crawford and Liddington, \u201cWomen do not count\u201d: 112.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> White, \u201cNo Vote-No Census\u201d: 38.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> \u201cExample of a non-militant protest\u201d.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Waters, \u201cCampaign for Women\u2019s Suffrage\u201d: 178.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Atkinson, Rise Up Women<\/em>, 187; Jill Liddington, Vanishing for the vote: suffrage, citizenship and the battle for the census<\/em> (Manchester; Manchester University Press, 2014), 2.; White, \u201cNo Vote-No Census\u201d: 42-5.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Liddington, Vanishing for the Vote<\/em>, 72.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> National Archives, \u201cExample of a non-militant protest\u201d.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Mayhall, The Militant Suffragette Movement<\/em>, 62.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> National Archives, \u201cExample of a non-militant protest\u201d.<\/p>\n

[18]<\/a> Atkinson, Rise Up<\/em> Women<\/em>, 188. ; Crawford and Liddington, \u201cWomen do not count\u201d: 115. ; Liddington, Vanishing for the vote, <\/em>153 ; White, \u201cNo Vote-No Census\u201d: 46.<\/p>\n

[19]<\/a> Waters, \u201cCampaign for Women\u2019s Suffrage\u201d: 188.<\/p>\n

[20]<\/a> Atkinson, Rise Up Women<\/em>, 186.; Crawford and Liddington, \u201c<\/em>Women do not count\u201d: 100.; White, \u201cNo Vote- No Census\u201d: 46.<\/p>\n

[21]<\/a> Atkinson, Rise Up Women,<\/em> 186.; Crawford and Liddington, \u201c<\/em>Women do not count\u201d: 100.; White, \u201cNo Vote-No Census\u201d: 46.<\/em><\/p>\n

[22]<\/a> Crawford and Liddington, \u201cWomen do not count\u201d: 98.<\/p>\n

[23]<\/a> National Archives, \u201cExample of a non-militant protest\u201d.<\/p>\n

[24]<\/a> Crawford and Liddington, \u201cWomen do not count\u201d: 108, 122; White, \u201cNo Vote-No Census\u201d: 50.<\/p>\n

[25]<\/a> Liddington, Vanishing for the Vote<\/em>, 145-6.<\/p>\n

[26]<\/a> Crawford and Liddington, \u201cWomen do not count\u201d: 120.<\/p>\n

[27]<\/a> Waters, \u201cCampaign for Women\u2019s Suffragette\u201d: 181.<\/p>\n

[28]<\/a> Liddington, Vanishing for the Vote<\/em>, 126-130.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 1911 census form provides evidence of the ways in which the suffragettes challenged state authority.\u00a0 This piece was written by second-year UoP history student Ashleigh Hufton for the second-year module, Danger! Censorship, Power and the People. Forms articulate conversations between two parties, argues Dobraszczyk, in an article on the Victorian census. [1] \u00a0A 1911 census return form is a useful document to view when analysing the relationship between the liberal government and individual social actors. [2]\u00a0 This was the first census to be completed by the homeowner, allowing individuals to choose what information the government attained.[3] The suffragettes utilised this power to challenge state authority through their \u201ccensus boycott\u201d. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[712,545,14,16,15,11,544,546,98,257],"class_list":["post-1857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning_in_focus","tag-danger-module","tag-enfranchisement","tag-history","tag-official-sources","tag-primary-sources","tag-slider","tag-suffragettes","tag-the-census","tag-twentieth-century","tag-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/history.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Census-form-1911-cropped.jpg?fit=619%2C320","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p91PlX-tX","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1857"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1865,"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857\/revisions\/1865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/history.port.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}