Lilias Mitchell (1884-1940) was a Scottish suffragette and campaigner for political and social reform.

Early life

Lilias Mitchell was born in

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

, to Annie Mitchell and Alexander Mitchell, a timber merchant.

Women's suffrage

In 1907 or 1908, Mitchell and her mother attended a suffrage meeting at which

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst (; Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win in 1918 the women's suffrage, right to vote in United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

and

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence (; 21 October 1867 – 11 March 1954) was a British women's rights activist, suffragist and pacifist. Early life Pethick-Lawrence was born in 1867 in Clifton, Bristol as Emmeline Pethick. He ...

spoke. Lilias 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 ...

at that meeting. In 1910, Mitchell was part of a WSPU march to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

which was broken up by the police. She was arrested, and served a short sentence in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...

. By 1912 Mitchell was the WSPU organiser for

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. In March 1912, she took part in the large-scale WSPU window-smashing campaign in London, and again was arrested and sentenced to four months in Holloway. As was the WSPU policy at the time, she went on hunger strike, and was subsequently forcibly fed by the prison authorities. Back in Aberdeen, she drew attention to the women's suffrage cause with stunts such as painting all the flags on Balmoral golf course in the WSPU purple, white and green colours, and arguing with the Prime Minister,

Herbert Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

, at Dornoch golf course. Mitchell then became the WSPU organiser for

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and District in September 1912, after the resignation of

Laura Ainsworth Laura Frances Ainsworth (1885–1958) was a British teacher and suffragette. She was employed by the Women's Social and Political Union and was one of the first suffragettes to be force-fed. She left the WSPU in 1912 in protest at the ejection o ...

. In July 1913 Mitchell was sent to organise in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. There, in early 1914, she and

Mary Richardson Mary Raleigh Richardson (1882/3 – 7 November 1961) was a Canadian suffragette active in the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom, an arsonist, a socialist parliamentary candidate and later head of the women's section of the ...

used a bomb to blow up a railway station on the outskirts of the city. In May 1914 she was arrested for breach of the peace, and sent to

Winson Green Prison HM Prison Birmingham is a Category B men's prison in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, England, operated by HM Prison and Probation Service. History HM Prison Birmingham was formerly called Winson Green Prison. It is a Victorian prison, des ...

. She again went on hunger-strike. Under the government's '

Cat and Mouse Act The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Act 1913, commonly referred to as the Cat and Mouse Act, was an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom under H. H. Asquith's Liberal government in 1913. The Cat and Mouse Act wa ...

' she was released to regain her health, then re-arrested in June 1914.

Later work

After the World War I, Mitchell continued her political and social reform activities. She was a member of Edinburgh Women Citizens Association and wrote for ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

''. In addition, she was Honorary Secretary of the Child Assault Protest Committee, East of Scotland secretary for the

League of Nations Union The League of Nations Union (LNU) was an organization formed in October 1918 in Great Britain to promote international justice, collective security and a permanent peace between nations based upon the ideals of the League of Nations. The League o ...

and secretary of the Scottish Division of the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

Death

Mitchell died in 1940 from a heart condition.

References

Scottish suffragettes {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Lilias 1884 births 1940 deaths Activists from Edinburgh Women's Social and Political Union British hunger strikers Bombers (people) 20th-century Scottish journalists Scottish Christians