Headquarters

There is a plaque at 2 St Andrews Square

The women's suffrage movement is usually connected with London, and with pictures of women chaining themselves to railings at Downing Street, Hyde park and the Houses of Parliament. The fact that Scotland had a large, vociferous and well-supported suffrage movement has not been given as much recognition as it deserves.

The campaign for votes for women began in the 1860s and the Edinburgh National Society for Women's Suffrage was formed in 1867. It found immediate support and its speakers visited every part of Scotland, stimulating interest in the movement and creating networks from Shetland to the Borders.

In Scotland, between 1867-76, two million signatures to a petition supporting women's suffrage were collected and presented to Parliament. Women challenged the legality of their exclusion as voters. Campaigners and rallies were held across the country, but all of this was largely ignored or derided by the press. Parliament chose not to debate the issue. Some women began to feel that new tactics were needed and in 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter, Christabel, formed the Women's Social and Political Union.

The WSPU used shock tactics to attract more attention and their supporters distinguished themselves from the law-abiding, non-militant suffragists by calling themselves suffragettes.

The WSPU spread rapidly to Scotland, recruiting Scottish women in large numbers. Numerous acts of violence, such as smashing windows, setting fire to property, damaging golf courses, making pillar boxes unusable, bombing properties, slashing paintings in galleries, were carried out, all of which guaranteed a high public profile for the cause. Women activists were prepared to be caught and to serve prison sentences, attracting more publicity and support. Others were even prepared to go on hunger strike and suffer force-feeding. Some women claimed that such activities eroded support for the movement. On the other hand they were effective in raising the awareness of people who otherwise would not have considered the issue seriously.

Queen Victoria was not a supporter of female suffrage and this was a factor in dissuading some women from pursuing their right to vote. Indeed, anti-suffrage societies developed and by 1910 in Scotland these various societies had united into the Scottish Nation's Anti-Suffrage League. Despite this, the women's suffrage movement continued to grow and drew support from all levels of society – aristocratic ladies were prominent in the movement along with professional women, artists, actresses, housewives and working-class women. The latter receive little mention in the history of Scottish women's suffrage but the Women's Co-operative Guild is the best documented working-class women's suffrage group. The headquarters of the Scottish Suffrage Societies was at 2 St Andrews Square.

Edinburgh, in 1909, saw a magnificent women's suffrage pageant and procession along Princes Street, watched by what seemed like the city's entire population, raising yet more awareness of the campaign. Scotland was also unique in having the support of the Northern Men's Federation for Women's Suffrage with branches in Midlothian, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Berwick-on-Tweed. Members consisted of town councillors, Magistrates, lawyers and teachers and the Federation was active from 1913. In December 1913 two Edinburgh Town Councillors put forward a motion that the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council petition Parliament in favour of granting the Parliamentary franchise to women on the same terms as men.

The outbreak of the First World War proved a turning point. While men went to war, women went to work in jobs hitherto considered unsuitable, in munitions, factories, public transport and offices. The WSPU announced a truce on militancy and the Secretary for Scotland announced the remission of all sentences passed on suffragettes in Scottish courts. Some suffrage societies put their resources – office staff and the services of their members – into supporting families whose breadwinners had been drafted into the army.

After World War One ended, the Government decided on a compromise. On 6 March 1918, the Representation of the People Act was passed giving the vote to women of 30 years of age and over. But conditions were attached: they had to be wives of householders or occupiers of property worth at least £5 a year or university graduates.

The 1920s saw continued campaigning for a wider franchise, though will less of the drama of previous years. Eventually, on 3 June 1928, a second Act was passed entitling women to vote on the same terms as men. Interestingly, the Duchess of Argyll, who had been one of Scotland's leading anti-suffragists, went on to become one of the first women Members of Parliament. In Edinburgh, some of the leading women in the suffrage movement were:

JESSICA CRYSTAL McMILLAN – One of the first women lawyers. The first woman barrister to take a case to the House of Lords.

LADY MARGARET SACKVILLE – Poet. World War 1 anti-militarist. Member of the British Committee of International Women's Congress.

SARA MAIR SIDDONS – Founder of the ladies' Edinburgh Debating Society. Dame of the British Empire. Awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh.

MARY CRUDELIUS – see Mary Crudelius 1839-1877

THE STEVENSON SISTERS – see Elisa, Louisa and Flora Stevenson.