Flora Drummond
Encyclopedia
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
– died 7 January 1949 in Carradale
Carradale
Carradale is a picturesque village on the east side of Kintyre, overlooking the Kilbrannan Sound and the west coast of the Isle of Arran, approximately 14 miles from Campbeltown...
), was a British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
suffragette. Nicknamed The General for her habit of leading Women's Rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
marches wearing a military style uniform 'with an officers cap and epaulettes' and riding on a large horse, Drummond was an organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom...
(WSPU) and was imprisoned nine times for her activism in the Women's Suffrage movement
Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom as a national movement began in 1872. Women were not prohibited from voting in the United Kingdom until the 1832 Reform Act and the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act...
. Drummond's main political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
activity was organising and leading rallies, marches and demonstrations
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
. She was an accomplished and inspiring orator
Oratory
Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
and had a reputation for being able to put down heckler
Heckler
A heckler is a person who harass and try to disconcert others with questions, challenges, or gibes.Hecklers are often known to shout disparaging comments at a performance or event, or interrupts set-piece speeches, for example at a political meeting, with intent to disturb its performers or...
s with ease.
Early life
Drummond was born on 4 August 1878 in Manchester to Sarah and Francis Gibson. Her father was a tailor and whilst Flora was still a small child he moved the family to the Isle of ArranIsle of Arran
Arran or the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, and with an area of is the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire and the 2001 census had a resident population of 5,058...
. On leaving high-school at the age of fourteen Flora moved to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
to take a business training course at a civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
school where she passed the qualifications to become a post-mistress
General Post Office
General Post Office is the name of the British postal system from 1660 until 1969.General Post Office may also refer to:* General Post Office, Perth* General Post Office, Sydney* General Post Office, Melbourne* General Post Office, Brisbane...
but standing at 5 in 1 in (1.55 m) was refused a post as she did not meet the newly introduced minimum 5 in 2 in (1.57 m) height requirement. Although she went on to gain a Society of Arts qualification in shorthand and typing she still carried a resentment about the discrimination which meant that women, because of their smaller average height, were prevented from being postmistresses.
After her marriage to Joseph Drummond she moved back to the town of her birth and along with her husband was active in the Fabian Society
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
and the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
.
Political activism
Flora Drummond joined the WSPU in 1906. Following a Liberal PartyLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
election meeting at the Free Trade Hall
Free Trade Hall
The Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester, was a public hall constructed in 1853–6 on St Peter's Fields, the site of the Peterloo Massacre and is now a hotel. The hall was built to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The architect was Edward Walters The hall subsequently was...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
Christabel Pankhurst
Christabel Pankhurst
Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, DBE , was a suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union , she directed its militant actions from exile in France from 1912 to 1913. In 1914 she became a fervent supporter of the war against Germany...
and Annie Kenney
Annie Kenney
Annie Kenney was an English working class suffragette who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union...
were imprisoned for pressing the candidate, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, to answer the question 'If you are elected, will you do your best to make Women's Suffrage a government measure?'. When the two women were released the WSPU held a celebratory rally in Manchester which Flora, who had witnessed their arrests, attended and was persuaded to join the movement. Shortly afterwards Flora moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and by the end of 1906 had served her first term in Holloway after being arrested inside the House of Commons.
Flora was known for her daring and headline-grabbing stunts, including in 1906 slipping inside the open door of 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
whilst her companion Irene Miller was being arrested for knocking on the door. In 1908 Flora hired a boat so that she could approach the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
from the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
in order to harangue the Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
sitting on the riverside terrace.
Flora Drummond was a key organiser of the Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
rally in October 1908 which led to a three month term in Holloway
Holloway (HM Prison)
HM Prison Holloway is a closed category prison for adult women and Young Offenders, located in the Holloway area of the London Borough of Islington, in north and Inner London, England...
along with Christabel
Christabel Pankhurst
Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, DBE , was a suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union , she directed its militant actions from exile in France from 1912 to 1913. In 1914 she became a fervent supporter of the war against Germany...
and Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote...
for "incitement to rush the House of Commons". The women had been given the option of being bound over to keep the peace for twelve months instead of a custodial sentence
Custodial sentence
A custodial sentence is a judicial sentence, imposing a punishment consisting of mandatory custody of the convict, either in prison or in some other closed therapeutic and/or educational institution, such as a reformatory, psychiatry or drug detoxification...
but all three opted for Holloway
Holloway (HM Prison)
HM Prison Holloway is a closed category prison for adult women and Young Offenders, located in the Holloway area of the London Borough of Islington, in north and Inner London, England...
. Flora was in the first trimester of pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
when she was imprisoned and after fainting and being taken to the hospital wing she was granted early release on the grounds of ill-health. As Drummond was leaving the prison Emmeline Pankhurst broke the "silence rule" which forbade the suffragette prisoners from speaking to each other and called out 'I am glad because now you will be able to carry on the work'.
In October 1909 Drummond was the organiser of the first militant procession in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
as a response to a critical comment from the WSPU leadership in their newsletter Votes for Women which said 'Beautiful, haughty, dignified, stern Edinburgh, with your cautious steadfast people, you have not yet woken up to take part in our militant methods.' The theme of the march was 'have done and can do and will do' and featured women carrying banners and playing bagpipes dressed either in their working clothes or as female historical Scottish figures. Tens of thousands turned out on to the streets of Edinburgh to watch the parade and the event was considered by the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch to have been a success.
In May 1914 Drummond and Norah Dacre Fox (later known as Norah Elam
Norah Elam
Norah Elam also known as Norah Dacre Fox, was a radical feminist, militant suffragette, anti-vivisectionist and fascist in the United Kingdom. Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1878 to John and Charlotte Doherty, she emigrated to England with her family and by 1891 was living in London...
) besieged the homes of Lord Carson and Lord Lansdowne, both prominent Ulster Unionist MPs who had been directly inciting militancy in Ulster against the Home Rule Bill then going through Parliament. Drummond and Dacre Fox had both been issued with summonses to appear before magistrates for 'making inciting speeches' and encouraging women to militancy. Their response to journalists who interviewed them was that they thought they should take refuge with Lord Carson and Lord Lansdowne who had also been making inciting speeches and encouraging militancy in Ireland, but who appeared to be safe from interference from the authorities for doing so. Later the same day both women appeared before a magistrate, were sentenced to imprisonment and taken to Holloway where they immediately commenced hunger and thirst strikes and endured a period of force feeding
Retirement from direct action
Drummond's terms in prison, including several hunger strikeHunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
s took a physical toll on her and in 1914 she spent some time on Arran to recover her health and after her return to London on the outbreak of the First World War concentrated her efforts on public speaking and administration rather than direct action thus avoiding further arrest. She remained prominent within the movement and in 1928 she was a pall-bearer at the funeral of Emmeline Pankhurst.
In the 1930s Drummond formed the Women's Guild of Empire, a right wing league opposed to communism and fascism. Her one-time militant partner Norah Elam
Norah Elam
Norah Elam also known as Norah Dacre Fox, was a radical feminist, militant suffragette, anti-vivisectionist and fascist in the United Kingdom. Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1878 to John and Charlotte Doherty, she emigrated to England with her family and by 1891 was living in London...
, who had become a leading member of Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
's British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
wrote a scathing attack of the Guild calling it an anti-fascist circus describing her former friend as an 'extinct volcano'.
Flora and Joseph Drummond divorced in 1922 and later that year she married a cousin, Alan Simpson. Alan was killed during an air-raid
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
in 1944; Flora died in 1949 following a stroke at the age of 70.