ABSTRACT
Lady Constance Georgina-Bulwer-Lytton was a spiritual and self-effacing individual, connected by kinship to the noble and literary circles of Edwardian Britain. Her life was changed in 1905 after visiting a number of suffragettes in Holloway prison. In early 1909, she herself was imprisoned in Holloway but treated leniently as a result of her weak heart and her family connections. Disguised as a working woman, calling herself Jane Warton, she joined a protest in Liverpool, was imprisoned for 14 days in the third division with hard labour in Walton gaol, went on hunger strike, and was force-fed on eight occasions, with no prior medical examination, before being released. Before mass meetings and in print, Prison and Prisoners, Lytton spoke of her prison experiences. Her witnessing ensured medical examination for prisoners before forcible feeding, and helped to bring the practice to an end. In August 1910, she suffered a heart attack, and in 1912 a stroke, which left her paralysed.
