Suffragettes at Whitchurch

Photographic postcard captioned 'Suffragettes' at Whitchurch. Miss Howey'. The image was taken during the WSPU campain at the Shropshire by-election in 1908 and depicts the Suffragette Elsie Howey rousing the electorate to vote against the Liberal Government.
Elsie Howey travelled the country as a speaker and roused the campaign in Paignton and Torquay as a salaried WSPU Organiser . Another WSPU member, Mary Blathwayt, later wrote that 'Elsie is a wonderful speaker'.
Elsie Howey was a committed Suffragette and served several terms of imprisonment for militancy. She was also a member of the Young Hot Bloods, a group of young suffragettes, fiercely loyal to Emmeline & Christabel Pankhurst. This secretive group, dedicated to carrying out 'danger duty' met every Saturday at 4.30pm in Alan's Tea Rooms in Oxford Street and were used by the WSPU to lead protests, organise parliamentary demonstrations and harass government ministers. Elsie also memorably attended Suffragette processions riding a white horse and dressed as Joan of Arc. In a letter to the Suffragette Fellowship her Mother, also a Suffragette campaigner noted Elsie, required 4 months medical treatment to recover from force feeding. 'Her beautiful voice was ruined'.