In the heart of Westminster, a rain-soaked ceremony in 1970 marked the unveiling of a powerful memorial to the Suffragettes — women who risked everything for the right to vote. Among them was Lilian Lenton, a former dancer turned militant activist whose daring acts of protest helped shape the course of British history.
Commemoration and Legacy of the Suffragette Movement
In 1970 a small ceremony took place in the pouring rain in Christchurch Gardens located on Victoria Street in Westminster. A sculpture was being unveiled. The sculpture concerned is a memorial to the Suffragettes, officially the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) and the Women’s Freedom League. Both these groups campaigned for votes for women before the First World War.
Both groups believed direct action had to be used to bring the cause to the attention of the government. The sculpture was commissioned by the Suffragette Fellowship, an organisation set up in 1926, to preserve the history of the militant campaign and keep former activists in touch with each other.
By the 1970s, the Fellowship had few remaining members and the Suffragette Memorial was to be a permanent reminder of the suffering and sacrifices made by those women who had put their lives and health on the line campaigning for the vote. Several surviving Suffragettes attended the event and one of those was Lilian Lenton, treasurer of the Fellowship.
Personal Courage and Sacrifice — The Story of Lilian Lenton
You can see her there in the photo, dressed in her raincoat, holding an umbrella and sporting a Suffragette rosette. It is hard to believe that in her youth Lilian Lenton was one of the most militant and inventive of the Suffragettes. She was born into a working class family and trained as a professional dancer but on hearing Emmeline Pankhurst speak, she was determined to join the WSPU when she was old enough.
In 1912 and just 21, Lilian took part in her first piece of direct action – window smashing that targeted government offices in Whitehall in protest at the failure of the government to give women the vote. Like the other participants Lilian had little bags of stones, available from the WSPU headquarters, and a small hammer to break windows easily. Lilian was one of a large number of women arrested and was given a prison sentence. This was her first time in Holloway prison and it must have come as a shock to be in such a terrible place.
The Militancy and Tactics of the Women’s Suffrage Campaign
However, undeterred after her release, she graduated to the pillar box action. As the Post Office was a government institution it came under attack, Lilian and others poured corrosive substances into the letter boxes ruining the mail inside. It was estimated that 5000 letters were destroyed in 1912 by these actions. Come 1913 and the leadership of the WSPU decided to scale up their tactics and Lilian joined in the arson attacks organised by Christabel Pankhurst.
Empty buildings as well as pillar boxes came in for incendiary treatment or arson. The idea was to cause as much annoyance and difficulty as possible to try and force the government to give women the vote. It was empty buildings that were targeted so that no one would be hurt but insurance companies would have to pay out and it was hoped they would put pressure on the government as well.
It was Lilian who, with Olive Wharry, another Suffragette, was responsible for an attack at Kew Gardens that destroyed the Tea Pavilion. It was burned to the ground and Lilian was caught and arrested. 📢 Listen Now: The History of Afternoon Tea
Government Response and The Cat and Mouse Act
On arrival at Holloway prison after sentencing, Lilian went on hunger strike. She was then violently force fed by prison staff and developed pleurisy as a result of inhaling food into her lungs. This horrific occurrence was published and Lilian was released from prison to recover.
Force feeding of imprisoned Suffragettes who went on hunger strike in their efforts to be recognised as political prisoners had begun much earlier and due to the horrific nature of the procedure helped Suffragettes gain sympathy to the cause.
So Reginald McKenna, home secretary from 1911 – 1915, knew force feeding didn’t work – Suffragettes continued to refuse food but allowing Suffragettes in prison to die would have created martyrs.
However, releasing prisoners who had not completed their sentence was not felt to be an option. McKenna decided to introduce what was known as the Cat and Mouse bill in 1913 in the wake of the Lilian Lenton incident. This meant that prisoners would be released on licence if they went on hunger strike and became very ill. When they got better they would be rearrested and complete their sentence.
Post-Campaign Life and Continued Advocacy
This was a golden opportunity for more publicity for the Suffragettes. Lilian went on to alternate between prison and freedom aiming to ‘burn two houses a week’. When out on licence from Armley jail in Leeds, having been sent to prison for another arson attack and then becoming weakened through hunger striking, Lilian escaped. She was to spend her time in recovery in a house of a local suffragette.
Detectives surrounded the house in order to rearrest her when the time came and prevent her absconding. A Suffragette disguised as an errand boy and eating an apple came in through the back door of the house. The errand boy went out of the backdoor eating the same apple a little later. This was not the same Suffragette. It was Lilian who had quickly changed. She leapt onto a waiting vehicle and made her getaway. This was just one of the stories she told of her escapades during 1913 and 1914.
The Gradual Achievement of Women's Suffrage
When the WSPU stopped campaigning at the outbreak of World War One in September 1914 to help with the war effort, Lilian volunteered with the medical corps. She was awarded the French Red Cross for her service. However, she continued the fight for the vote, speaking at events and writing articles and only gained the vote herself in 1920 after her thirtieth birthday.
Women did not get the vote on the same basis as men until 1928. After the war she worked for the British Embassy in Stockholm, was a speaker and organiser and became the financial secretary of the National Union of Women Teachers.
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