Marion Wallace-Dunlop Ealing Suffragette

Marion Wallace-Dunlop Ealing Suffragette, First Hunger Striker, Artist © Museum of London, 0.82/1311

Family background Marion was born in 1864 at Leys Castle, Inverness. She was an artist, sculptress and illustrator. Her family moved to Ealing in 1892, to Ellerslie Towers, later 16 Montpelier Road.

Ellerslie Towers, Ealing Marion’s House Ellerslie Towers, Ealing © Ealing Library

Marion – The Artist She studied at Slade School of Fine Art. She was a portrait painter, figurative artist and illustrator. She worked in London from 1871 and in Ealing 1897 – 1903. Her art can be seen in the two books she illustrated and co-wrote - Fairies, Elves and Flower Babies and The Magic Fruit Garden (both published in 1899). She exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1903, 1905 and 1906, at the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts in 1903 and in Paris.

Illustration from Fairies Elves and Flower Babies © British Library Board, 12809R42

Illustrations from The Magic Fruit Garden © British Library Board, 012804G5

Marion – The Suffragette Marion became involved with the suffrage movement in 1900. She joined the Central Society for Women’s Suffrage. She was also a member of the Fabian Women’s Group from 1906 to 1913. In 1908 she joined the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). She was arrested and imprisoned in Holloway Prison for the first time in July 1908 for ‘obstruction’ and again in November for leading a deputation to the House of Commons. Marion was the first suffragette to go on hunger strike. After 91 hours of fasting she was released.

Marion – The Suffragette (continued) Marion helped design many of the flamboyant WSPU processions in 1910 and 1911. In November 1911 she helped organise a window - smashing campaign which led to her imprisonment. Many suffragettes, including Marion, refused to participate in the 1911 census. Marion, like many other suffragettes, as well as George Bernard Shaw, was a vegetarian. This was unusual at this time. Was this way of life a protest against “conventional” society?

Why Hunger Strike? Marion’s hunger strike was a protest against being placed in the third division in prison, which was the division for common criminals. She demanded to be placed in the first division which was for political prisoners. Marion, as well as other suffragettes later, wanted to be regarded as a political prisoner rather than a common criminal. First division political offenders also maintained certain privileges such as wearing their own clothes and keeping their possessions.

Excerpt from the Roll of Honour with the names of all the suffragette prisoners 1905-1914. Marion’s name (Dunlop, Marion Wallace) on the right. © Source unknown, LSE Library Collections, TWL.

Historical pageant One of the processions co- organised and co-designed by Marion Wallace-Dunlop. © Museum of London, IN1347

© LSE Library collections, TWL.2009.02.097c From the front right: Annie Kenney, Mary Blathwayt, Marion Wallace Dunlop and Florence Haig standing round a tree; Kitty and Jennie Kenney in the background; 11th June 1910

Retreat? Marion ceased to be active in the WSPU after 1911. We can see that Marion must have withdrawn before the First World War, and therefore before the vote was won. In 1928 Wallace-Dunlop was a pallbearer at the funeral of Emmeline Pankhurst. Over the next few years she took care of Mrs Pankhurst's adopted daughter, Mary. Marion Wallace-Dunlop died on 12th September 1942 at the Mount Alvernia Nursing Home, Guildford.

Legacy More suffragettes followed Marion’s example of hunger strike, as a powerful weapon against the government. Frederick Pethick-Lawrence wrote to Marion, referring to her hunger strike as ‘heroic action’. Hunger strike is a weapon that a lot of activists as well as political prisoners are still using. It has been argued that in the 1960s and 1970s, feminists in Britain and the USA were inspired by the WSPU and their hunger strikes.

What do YOU think Marion’s Legacy is?