Lady Constance Lytton (AKA Jane Warton)- Was an influential British suffragette activist, writer and campaigner for Votes for Women. She was a leading member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).

She was subsequently imprisoned four times including once under the alias Jane Warton, where she was force fed seven times while on hunger strike.  She chose the alias, Jane Warton, to avoid receiving special treatment and privileges because of her family title.  Her brother was a member of the House of Lords.

While imprisoned in Holloway during March 1909 she used a piece of broken enamel from a hairpin to carve the letter “V” into the flesh of her breast, placed exactly over the heart. “V” for Votes for Women.

Her heart attack, stroke and early death at the age of 54 have been attributed in part to the trauma of hunger strikes and force feeding by the prison authorities.  

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Annie Kenney –  Was an English working class suffrage who became a leading figure in the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).  She attracted the attention of the press and the public in 1905, when she, and Christabel Pankhurst, were imprisoned for several days for assault and obstruction.  This incident is credited with inaugurating a new phase in the struggle for women’s suffrage in the United Kingdom, with the adoption of militant tactics.

Miss Kenney was the only working class woman to become part of the senior hierarchy of the WSPU, becoming deputy in 1912, unusual in such a middle class organization.

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Christabel Pankhurst – The co-founder of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).  In 1905 Christabel interrupted a Liberal Party meeting by shouting demands for voting rights for women.  She was arrested and, along with fellow suffragist Annie Kenney, went to prison rather than pay a fine as punishment for their outburst.  Their case gained much media interest and the ranks of the WSPU swelled following their trial.

After obtaining her law degree in 1906, Christabel moved to the London headquarters of the WSPU, where she was appointed its organizing secretary.  Nicknamed “Queen of the Mob”, she was jailed again in 1907 in Parliament Square and 1909 after the “Rush Trial” at Bow Street.

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Sylvia Pankhurst – Was an English campaigner for the suffragist movement in the United Kingdom.  She started to work full-time with the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) with her sister, Christabel, and her mother.  She concentrated her activity on local campaigning with the East London Federation of the WSPU. 

She and her sister Christabel did not get along.  Sylvia was against turning the WSPU towards solely upper- and middle- class women and using militant tactics, while Christabel thought it was essential.  Christabel felt that suffrage was a cause that should not be tied to any causes trying to help working-class women with their issues.  Christabel felt that it would only drag the suffrage movement down and that all of the other issues could solve once women had the right to vote.

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