ABSTRACT
The correspondence of Hugh Franklin and Elsie Duval enables an exploration of the ideas and activities of one political partnership through the lens of women's suffrage at a particular moment. Hugh Franklin and Elsie Duval met through Victor Duval, Elsie's brother, and although they did not marry until 1915, their romantic involvement had begun several years earlier. Nevertheless, throughout the period of suffrage militancy they continued to conduct their militant activities separately, creating very distinct identities and effectively putting the personal side of their relationship 'on hold', choosing instead to focus on their individual political endeavours. Hugh Franklin was sentenced to six weeks in the second division at Pentonville prison on 5 December 1910. Franklin was able to use the columns of Votes For Women, the official organ of the WSPU at this time, to explain his actions. Their self-imposed exile ended with the outbreak of the First World War and after their return to England.
