| Main Performers | Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst,
Miss Christabel Pankhurst,
Mrs Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence,
Miss Annie Kenny,
Mrs Nellie Martel,
Jennie Baines - speakers |
| Set List | Call for financial donations (Pethwick-Lawrence),
Speeches |
| Performance Notes | This meeting was arranged to coincide with the second reading of a private member's bill that would have given some women the right to vote. An empty chair was placed on the stage for Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst who was thought to be in Holloway Prison, but had in fact been released that morning and came into the Hall to rapturous applause. Speeches were given by Mrs Pankhurst, Mrs Pethick-Lawrence, Christabel Pankhurst, Annie Kenney, Nellie Martel and Jennie Baines.
This event was one of a series of mass meetings organised in early 1908 to raise the profile of the WSPU and impress on the Government the serious intent of the campaign. Such a meeting could also raise significant funds for the movement through the sale of tickets and the collection of donations.
From the diary of Kate Frye;
'I had a letter in the morning from Miss Madge Porter offering me a seat at the Albert Hall for the evening and of course I was delighted
.just before 7 o'clock I started for the Albert Hall. Walked to Notting Hill gate then took a bus. The meeting was not till 8 o'clock but Miss Porter had told me to be there by 7 o'clock. We had seats in the Balcony and it was a great strain to hear the speakers. It was a meeting of the National Women's Social and Political Union - and Mrs Pankhurst, newly released from Prison with the other six was there, and she filled the chair that we had thought to see empty. It was an exciting meeting. The speakers were Miss Christabel Pankhurst, Mrs Pethick Lawrence, Miss Annie Kenney, Mrs Martel and the huge sums of money they collected. It was like magic the way it flowed in. It was all just a little too theatrical but very wonderful. Miss Annie Kenney interested me the most - she seems so "inspired" quite a second Joan of Arc'. (Quote by kind permission of Elizabeth Crawford)
"Back in my comfortable home, surrounded by loving friends, I would have rested quietly for a few days, but there was a great meeting that night at Albert Hall, to mark the close of a week of self-denial to raise money for the year's campaign. Women had sold papers, flowers, and toys, swept crossings, and sung in the streets for the cause. Many women, well known in the world of art and letters, did these things. I felt that I should be doing little if I merely attended the meeting. So I went. My release was not expected until the following morning, and no one thought of my appearing at the meeting. My chairman's seat was decorated with a large placard with the inscription, Mrs Pankhurst's Chair'. After all the others were seated, the speakers, and hundreds of ex-prisoners, I walked quietly onto the stage, took the placard out of the chair and sat down. A great cry went up from the women as they sprang from their seats and stretched their hands towards me. It was some time before I could see them for my tears, or speak to them for the emotion that shook me like a storm."
('My Story', Emmeline Pankhurst)
£7,000 was raised that evening for the WSPU funds including two contributions of £1,000 each.
"SUFFRAGISTS' MASS MEETING.
£7,000 SUBSCRIBED.
The only significant feature of the mass meeting of Suffragists, in the Albert Hall, last night, was the remarkable response made to the appeal of the treasurer, Mrs Pethwick Lawrence, for financial support.
...cheques and promises for hundreds, fifties, and twenty-fives rained in until the telegraph board on the platform recorded a grand total of nearly £7,000. The figur eincluded the sum of 1s contributed by the six Suffragists released yesterday from Holloway Gaol, which represented their combined earnings during the period of imprisonment.
...The Albert Hall was comfortably filled, and the proceedings were stage-managed with competence. In particular, the advent to the platform of the released Suffragists was admirably timed, and they arrived on the scene at the psychological moment with great dramatic effect. This being successfully achived, the torrent of feminine oratory was set flowing."
(The Daily Telegraph, 20 March 1908)
Handbill in Museum of London collection - ID No. 50.82/1559 |
| Ticket Prices | 5/-1 (stalls), 2/6 (arena), 1/- (balcony and orchestra), 6d (gallery, upper orchestra) |