Enquiry 6b How effective was the ‘Votes for Women’ campaign in Bristol?

Enquiry overview Lesson 1: Why did some women in Bristol want the vote in 1866? Lesson 2: How effective was the campaign in the 1870s and 1880s? Lesson 3: How was the campaign re-invigorated after 1897? Lesson 4: How active and successful were suffragists and suffragettes in Bristol 1897–1914? Outcome activity: Consider how similar/different the Bristol campaign was to the rest of the country and the impact that it had on Bristol itself.

Lesson 2 How effective was the campaign in the 1870s and 1880s?

Lesson 2 overview Content covered in the lesson: Meetings and petitions, including Durdham Downs meetings, 1883. Colston Hall demonstration, 1880. Women’s Liberal Association. The activist women involved in the campaign.

Interior of Colston Hall, Bristol, 1873 How effective was the ‘Votes for Women’ campaign in Bristol? Recap Recap: Which women in Bristol and Bath signed the 1866 petition? Why did they sign it? How typical was Bristol? Interior of Colston Hall, Bristol, 1873

Newspaper advert, Bristol 1908 Bristol ‘Votes For Women’ Image credit: (advert) brizzle born and bred, Flickr Newspaper advert, Bristol 1908 Biographical cards

Durdham Downs from the air, 2018. Bristol ‘Votes For Women’ Image credit: (L) ITV Durdham Downs from the air, 2018. In 1883, Maria Colby organised meetings on Durdham Downs for 22 consecutive evenings.

How effective was the ‘Votes for Women’ campaign in Bristol? Activity 1: Bio cards Your challenge is to make your own bio cards and write a letter of description. Tasks: Explore the Know Your Place map to discover what suffragists were doing in Bristol at the time. Make your own ‘bio cards’ for any suffragist activists you have come across during this activity. Imagine that you have just returned from a Durdham Downs meeting. Write a letter to a friend, or a diary entry, describing what you have seen and heard. You will need to research suffragist meetings, clothes, banners and messages to be able to write a convincing letter. https://arcg.is/1rOCXq

How effective was the ‘Votes for Women’ campaign in Bristol? Plenary: Make a judgement about how effective suffrage activity was in Bristol from 1868 to the late 1890s. NB: Don’t forget to update your Timeline resource sheet for 1868–1890s.