Lady Constance Lytton

Postcard with photographic portrait of Lady Constance Lytton (1869-1923). Below is printed 'Lady Constance Lytton'. On the back of the card is handwritten 'We can supply these at 9d doz. We have exclusive right of reproduction on this photo'. The card is addressed to Miss Williams in Newcastle-on-Tyne and postmarked Bradford Dec 15 09. An Annie Williams is recorded as WSPU organiser in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1910. Postcards like these with portraits of leading suffragettes were produced as part of the women's pro-suffrage campaign and sold in Women's Social and Political Union shops to raise money for the suffragette cause.
Constance Lytton joined the WSPU in 1908. She served four prison sentences for her suffragette activities. Born into an aristocratic family, Lytton was dismayed at the special treatment she received from the authorities owing to her family connections. When arrested in Liverpool while disguised as a working class woman 'Jane Warton', she was sentenced to hard labour and forcibly fed when going on hunger strike. This exposed the worse treatment to which working class prisoners were subject. Lytton later suffered a stroke owing to her prison experiences.