Section 2. Task 1. The Suffragette movement.
I'm going to talk to you now about the suffragette movement, were you yourself ever a suffragette?
No, I did not approve of suffragettes.
I did not want to have the vote.
I felt the man of the house should be in charge of that section.
And the woman, of course, to look after the home and the children.
I think that voting was unnecessary, at that time.
But I'm now going to say now, that perhaps it has had its advantages.
How common was your attitude at the time that the suffragettes were being militant?
Oh, I was very much against them.
I'd be highly insulted if anybody called me a suffragette.
I remember walking with my governess down Downing Street just past Number 10 and they chained themselves to the railings.
Of course, I had a good laugh but I thought it wasn't going to be me.
Were they a popular movement in their day?
Well, it was a certain number of course.
And they tried very hard and eventually they got the vote, through their efforts, so I suppose their efforts were good in quite a lot of ways.
Er, I think women in Parliament, there weren't many, but those that've been there have done a lot of good.
So you think in the long term...
In the long term, no harm was done, as long as their demonstrations were peaceful.
Do you think it would matter very much if women didn't, hadn't achieved the vote, if they hadn't got the vote at all, and still didn't have it?
I don't think it would've made a great deal of difference, no, but there are certain things they've done,
those that've been Members of Parliament, that have been very useful in helping women in their jobs, in other vocations.
I think it's good that it happened.
But I wish it happened a little bit more peacefully, perhaps.
What sort of things can you remember, what other sorts of demonstrations do you remember?
Marching, they were marching.
But of course those were much more peaceful days, nobody interfered with their marches.
There were a few boos here and there and a lot of clapping.
Yes.
Did you, did you actually know any suffragettes yourself?
Well, my friends, my close friends were not suffragettes, but I had one or two friends, not very close friends, that were.
And we used to have great arguments and I used to say I didn't want the vote, I don't want to vote.
How did they react to that?
They didn't like that.
They said I ought to join the movement but I said no, I don't want to vote.
But, and yet you've done so many exciting things, you've done so many things that in your day, were probably the exclusive preserve of the man.
Well, yes, but voting didn't make any difference because that's a politic thing, voting, I never,
I don't care about women entering into politics particularly.
Ah, no harm's been done with the few that have entered the house of commons, but in fact, some have done a great deal of good.
But that's quite different to beating men at their own job.
Now that's nothing to do with votes. For instance, I always got a great thrill on the race track at Brooklands, if I could beat, well, Sir Henry Seagrave, for instance, in a race,
I never did beat him but I did beat Frazer Nash, a famous racing driver in a race, and I was thrilled to death. I thought that was super.
So you don't mind actually joining men in their world of work and sport, but you're happy to leave politics to them.
No, I would rather really leave politics to them.