Introduction

In the year of commemorating the passing of the 1918 Representation of the People Act that enfranchised some women over the age of 30, the emphasis has been on women’s campaigning for the vote and the methods and tactics they employed to achieve it. During the Edwardian period, all the suffrage organizations became far more visible: they held large demonstrations, sold their newspapers on the street and raised money for the cause. Many suffragists and suffragettes wrote memoirs and autobiographies which highlighted their years in the suffrage movement. For some, the suffrage campaign was just part of a longer story of political activism, whereas for others it was the main event. Gemma Elliott, on the other hand, provides a more detailed account of two suffragette autobiographies, by Elizabeth Thomson and Jessie Stephen, who were members of the Scottish Women’s Social and Political Union.