Dora Thewlis (15 May 1890 – 1976) was a British

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

whose arrest picture made the front page of the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' and other press.

Early life

Dora was born on 15 May 1890, at Shady Row in Meltham Mills, near

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. She was one of seven children born to James and Eliza (née Taylor) Thewlis, who was from

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of **Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

, Suffolk. At the time James was working locally as a weaver. Dora worked in a Yorkshire mill as a teen.

As a suffragette

Thewlis was sixteen when she joined the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...

in 1907. She was arrested the same year, having been part of a planned break in into the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

, when seventy-five women were arrested. She was patronised by the judge at her court appearance, and implied she had been going to London for immoral purposes. She was labelled the Baby Suffragette''' and the 'little mill hand' by the press. She appeared on the front page of the ''Daily Mirror'' (picture to the right) after the event, with the caption "''Suffragettes storm the House'',"`and called 'girl suffragist' in ''

The Daily Chronicle ''Daily Chronicle'' may refer to: * ''Daily Chronicle'' (United Kingdom), a British newspaper which merged into the ''News Chronicle'' * ''Daily Chronicle'' (Illinois), a newspaper in DeKalb County, Illinois * ''Daily Chronicle'' (New Zealand), ...

'' or 'infant agitator' in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. This kind of adverse publicity was not welcomed by the suffrage movement. The judge suggested her parents might take her in hand and sort her out. Their reply was she was her own person and they fully supported her. The family were socialists and her mother Eliza was quoted in the ''Huddersfield Weekly Examiner'' as saying that she had brought Dora up to read newspapers since the age of 7 and to debate politics. The family had also supported Mrs Pankhurst at the local by-election. Dora's sentence was two weeks in prison, but she served one. On her departure escorted by a wardress, she met with

Edith How-Martyn Edith How-Martyn (''née'' How; 17 June 1875 – 2 February 1954) was a British suffragette and a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). She was arrested in 1906 for attempting to make a speech in the House of Commons of the Un ...

. Thewlis emigrated to Australia before the start of the First World War, therefore never seeing the passage of women's suffrage in England, and in 1918 she married Jack Dow, who predeceased her in 1956. They had two children, she died in 1976 in

Ascot Vale, Victoria Ascot Vale is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Ascot Vale recorded a population of 15,197 at the 2021 censu ...

Early life

As a suffragette

See also

References

Further reading