54
54
The largest institutional deposit of Duval material is the papers of Elsie Duval and her husband Hugh Franklin at LSE’s Women’s Library, which includes Elsie’s own records of being force-fed and a prison diary in which she writes: “Elsie Duval age 19. 27 Jun 1912: Arrested wilful damage protested against forcible feeding of mother” (ref. 7HFD/C/11). Very little of that material is by or directly related to Emily Duval, making the present collection an exceptional survival. Together, 31 items, split into 3 categories: original autograph and typed material (5), printed material (20), and original photographs and artwork (6). Housed together in a grey archival box. Full inventory and condition reports available on request. ¶ Diane Atkinson, Rise Up, Women! The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes , 2018; Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928 , 1999 (p. 181 for the typed statement); Jeanne Rathbone, “Duval suffrage family of Lavender Sweep”, blog post, 19 April 2019; “Forcible Feeding – a Danger and an Outrage: Personal Experiences”, V otes for Women , 5 July 1912, p. 648; “The Forcible Feeding of Suffrage Prisoners”, V otes for Women , 30 August 1912, p. 177. £17,500 [156422]
August 1912 issue, introduced as “one of the worst cases was that of a married woman beyond middle life, who made no resistance at all.” Although Duval’s name was not mentioned, the timeline and phrasing are an exact match for her account. A few modern suffrage histories, namely those by Atkinson and Crawford, have provided concise summaries of Duval’s statement, having consulted it while in a private collection. Duval’s steadfast attitude in the face of this ordeal and her many other arrests made her a respected figure in the movement. In a letter to Duval of 2 August 1909 (present here), Constance Lytton sends a photograph of herself – signed as both Lytton and as her alias Jane Warton – and requests one in return “as a remembrance of our time together in Holloway Remand Hospital. I wish the people who scoff at our imprisonments could know more of what you have had to suffer in Holloway”. Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence’s affectionate letter of 15 October 1922 (also present) commends Duval for fighting “many battles – some of those severe battles we went through together . . . I see you now clearly in that Hospital Ward at Holloway, always humorous and laughing with us”. Duval died in 1924. Her obituary for the WFL’s newspaper, The Vote , was written by Margaret Nevinson; a copy is included in the collection, alongside other printed ephemera reflective of her time in the WSPU and WFL. Emily’s husband Ernest Diederichs Duval and their six children were all active in the suffrage movement, four of whom went to prison for the cause: Elsie (1892–1919, the first female prisoner to be released from Holloway after the Cat and Mouse Act), Victor (1885–1945, founder of the Men’s Political Union for Women’s Enfranchisement), Norah, and Laura. Several pieces in this collection relate to Victor, his political career, and his marriage to Una Dugdale. The family as a whole is represented through letters and portraits, including an original photograph of three of the sisters proudly reading an issue of Votes for Women .
54 DUVAL, Emily. Archive related to Emily Duval, her family, and their fight for women’s suffrage. c.1907–58 “i am not in the union to play with it, i am in to fight” A superb collection centred on prominent suffragette Emily Duval and her politically active family. Notable pieces include the typed carbon copy of Emily’s distressing account of being force-fed while incarcerated, signed autograph letters from Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and Constance Lytton applauding Emily’s sacrifices and the “severe battles” they had survived together, and a wealth of material illustrative of the Duvals’s collective efforts to secure the vote for women. Emily Duval (1861–1924) was a fervent believer in militant action, switching allegiance between the WSPU and WFL depending on the strength of their stance at any given time. She joined the WSPU in 1906, defected to the WFL in 1907, and rejoined the WSPU in 1911. She was arrested multiple times, including for taking part in a deputation to Asquith (January 1908), for the Grille Protest at the Ladies’ Gallery, House of Commons, alongside Muriel Matters (October 1908), for – according to her obituary – “doing absolutely nothing” (February 1909, at Holloway), and for her involvement in the window smashing campaign (November 1911 and March 1912).
Following the March 1912 arrest Duval served six months in Birmingham’s Winson Green Prison; she began her hunger strike in June and was consequently force-fed three times on Sunday 23 and Monday 24 June. Winson Green was one of the first prisons in the country to practise force-feeding. After being released on 25 June, Duval went to the WSPU’s Birmingham branch, as she knew no one in the area and was physically unable to travel back to London. On 30 June she dictated an account of her treatment to Miss Grew, the office organizer, and Elizabeth Redfern, a professional shorthand writer. The typed carbon copy of her harrowing statement is a standout item in this collection. Duval is unsparing with details. Miss Grew observes that Duval, “though naturally very weak . . . was perfectly strong and clear in her evidence”. Duval is also clearly aware of the way in which the suffrage movement used first-hand accounts of force-feeding as propaganda: “And (to Miss Grew) you can please yourself whether you put this in, but I felt if I could have had a box of matches I could have set fire to the place, but I had the great will-power to prevent myself from smashing the windows; I simply felt mad to think that anybody could be so cruel.” To our knowledge Duval’s statement has never been published in full. An edited 27-line excerpt was printed as part of a report on force-feeding in the 5 July 1912 issue of Votes for Women . An eight-line abbreviation appeared in the 30
54
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
LOUDER THAN WORDS
42
43
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker