Mabel Kate Tuke, born Mabel Kate Lear (19 May 1871 – 22 November 1962) was a British suffragette known for her role of honorary secretary of the militant

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 ...

(WSPU).

Life

Tuke was born in

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Plumstead has been settled since ancient times, and London's earliest timber structure has been found here. ...

in London in 1871.Crawford, Elizabeth. (25 May 2006) 3 September 2004
Tuke [née Lear
Mabel Kate (1871–1962)">ée Lear">Tuke [née Lear
Mabel Kate (1871–1962), ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, online edn. Retrieved 20 November 2017. In 1901, she married George Moxley Tuke who had died by 1905. Tukw was good friends with Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence who introduced her to the Manchester based WSPU, which had been founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903. The WSPU were opening a branch in London and in time their headquarters would move there. From 1906, Tuke was appointed the honorary secretary of the WSPU. Emmeline Pankhurst resisted efforts to remove her absolute authority. In 1907 a group of members led by

Teresa Billington-Greig Teresa Billington-Greig (15 October 1876 – 21 October 1964) was a British suffragette who was one of the founders of the Women's Freedom League in 1907. She had left the Women's Social and Political Union - also known as the WSPU – as she ...

called for more democracy at the WSPU's annual meetings. Pankhurst admitted to being

autocratic Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and Head of government, government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with demo ...

. She announced at a WSPU meeting that the constitution was void and cancelled the annual meetings. She declared that a small committee chosen by the members in attendance in 1907 be allowed to co-ordinate WSPU activities. Emmeline and

Christabel Pankhurst Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), she directed Suffragette bombing and arson ca ...

were chosen together with Tuke and Emmeline Pethick Lawrence. Several WSPU members, including Billington-Greig and

Charlotte Despard Charlotte Despard (née French; 15 June 1844 – 10 November 1939) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish suffragist, socialist, pacifist, Sinn Féin activist, and novelist. She was a founding member of the Women's Freedom League, the Women's Pe ...

, subsequently broke with the organisation, quitting to form the

Women's Freedom League The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom from 1907 to 1961 which campaigned for women's suffrage, pacifism and sexual equality. It was founded by former members of the Women's Social and Political Union after the Pa ...

(WFL).Bartley, Paula. (2002) ''Emmeline Pankhurst.'' London:

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

. , pp. 91–93. Tuke was with the Pankhursts and Pethick-Lawrence near the head of the forty thousand

Women's Coronation Procession The Women's Coronation Procession was a suffragette march through London, England, on 17 June 1911, just before the Coronation of George V and Mary, demanding women's suffrage in the coronation year. The march was organised by the Women's Socia ...

, following Marjery Bryce as Joan of Arc, portraying the range of women's suffrage groups and notable historical women through London on 17 June 1911. Following a campaign of stone-throwing a warrant was made for the arrest of Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, the Pethick-Lawrences and Tuke. Emmeline Pankhurst and Tuke were already under arrest as they and Kitty Marshall had thrown a stone through a window of

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

. Christabel managed to flee to Paris, France, but the Pethick-Lawrences were arrested at WSPU headquarters. On 28 March 1912 they were committed to be tried at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

on the charge of "

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

." She was dismissed from the trial on 4 April 1912. The next argument at the WSPU involved the Pankhurst's decision to increase the militancy. The Pethick-Lawrences disagreed and were ejected from the WSPU. As Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence had been the person who had introduced Tuke to the WSPU, Tuke took her leave and went on a convalescent journey to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In 1925 Tuke and the Pankhurst's created an ill fated tea shop in the South of France at

Juan-les-Pins Juan-les-Pins (; ) is a town in the commune of Antibes in the Alpes-Maritimes department in Southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera, it is situated between Nice and Cannes, to the southwest of Nice Côte d'Azur Airport. Juan-les-Pins ...

. The tea shop was launched with mainly Tuke's money and she did the baking. The "English Tea Shop of Good Hope" soon closed. Tuke died in

Neville's Cross Neville's Cross is a place in the civil parish of the City of Durham, in County Durham, England. It is also a ward of Durham with a population taken at the 2011 census of 9,940. It is situated on the A167 trunk road to the west of the centre o ...

near Durham in 1962.

References

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuke, Mabel 1871 births 1962 deaths People from Plumstead British suffragists