Glossary terms
... an explanation of the terms used in the case studies.
Bloody Sunday: a demonstration in London on 13 November 1887 against coercion in Ireland, organised by the Social Democratic Federation
By-Election: an election held between general elections to fill a vacancy in Parliament, due to the elected Member of Parliament having retired/died/resigned.
Canvassing: a way to try and obtain votes through the persuasion of voters in a political campaign. Often canvassers deliver leaflets and call at peoples’ homes to highlight how a particular party could benefit them.
Cat and Mouse Act: suffragettes who were imprisoned for their militant activities and were sent to prison often refused to eat. The government, not wanting to have these women become martyrs, introduced the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge of Ill Health) Act (commonly known as the Cat and Mouse Act). After this suffragettes who went on hunger strike were released when they fell ill; however, the police were free to re-imprison offenders once they had recuperated. The Act turned out to be counter-productive as it was viewed by many as going against basic human rights.
Christian socialists(ism): Christians who are adherents to socialism and as such believe in a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. Christian socialists see Christianity and its beliefs as the best way to achieve socialism and vice versa.
Civil servant: an administrative worker for a government department or body, other than the armed services.
Civil service: non-political administrative body of government.
Clerk: someone who works in an office performing such tasks as keeping records, attending to correspondence or filing.
Co-operative commonwealth: the ideal that everybody in the world is working and living to co-operative values and principles.
Co-operative News: the newspaper of the co-operative movement, printed from 2 September 1871 until the present day.
Co-operative society: a business owned and run by its members, who all trade with the co-operative and get a share of the profits in return. Co-operative societies are part of the wider global co-operative movement, meaning all those who believe in co-operation. For further details see the International Co-operative Alliance website.
Co-operative Union: an organisation that links together co-operatives and works to promote them.
Conscription: compulsory enrolment of persons for military or naval service.
Contagious Diseases Acts (1864, 1866, 1869): allowed for the forcible removal of prostitutes from army or naval towns. They were forced to undergo an examination for sexual disease and then forcibly held if they had one.
Deputation: a person or group of people appointed to represent or act on behalf of one or others.
ELFS: The East London Federation of the Suffragettes.
Enemy aliens: a citizen of a country that is in a state of conflict with the land in which he or she is located. In World War Two, for instance, any German citizens living in Britain were considered enemy aliens.
Enfranchisement: the granting of franchise; to admit someone to citizenship especially to the right of voting.
Equal franchise: the right of men and women to vote on equal terms.
Fabian: a member of the Fabian Society, who believe in achieving socialist aims through reform.
Flying pickets: highly mobile pickets who are able to move rapidly to any location to picket at short notice.
Franchise: the right to vote authorised by the state.
Guild Annual Congress: a yearly meeting at which all the regional and local branches of the Women’s Co-operative Guild are invited to attend in order to set policy and priorities for the forthcoming year.
Guild socialism: as defined by Margaret Llewelyn Davies as an active partnership between the Women’s Co-operative Guild and the Parliamentary Labour Party.
High Church Evangelical Anglicans: Anglicans are members of the Church of England. The high church are those members who adhere to traditional modes of practice and service. Evangelical Christianity is linked to mission and social movements in the church, such as anti-slavery campaigns.
Hustings: public meeting as part of a political campaign.
ILP: Independent Labour Party. Formed in 1893, making it one of the earliest democratic socialist political parties operating in the UK.
Indian National Congress: Indian political party that fought for independence from the British crown.
International Working Men’s Association: founded 1864, it sought to unite left-wing (often working class) political groups and trade unions in order to promote and extend socialism.
Internment of aliens: confinement of people during war time without trial who were considered enemy aliens.
King’s Speech: the speech at the beginning of opening of Parliament each year, in which the government outlines the laws it intends to put forward in the coming Parliament via the King. When a Queen is on the throne it is known as the Queen’s Speech.
Labour: people who work or are involved with hands-on jobs such as miners, mechanists and weavers.
Law and Liberty League: formed in 1887, it fought for the right to hold meetings in Trafalgar Square, London.
Malthusian League: operational from 1877 until 1927, the League believed that poverty was the result of the over-supply of workers and so they championed birth control.
Match Girls’ Strike: the strike was by women and girls working for the Bryant and May factory, Bow, London in 1888 and was prompted by bad working conditions and the effects of working with yellow/white phosphorus, which caused a condition known as phossy jaw.
National Care of Maternity Programme: the Women’s Co-operative Guild’s programme called for maternal care to be improved, They wanted measures such as trained midwifes, aftercare for miscarriages and recognition of women’s mental state at such times.
National Secular Society: founded in 1866, the Society promotes the rights of non-believers ie people who question formal religion or deny the existence of God(s).
New Unionism: New Unions developed in the 1880s, and sought to recruit a wider range of members than the old craft unions, including unskilled and semi-skilled workers (such as dockers, seamen, gasworkers and general labourers). They were associated with militancy ie strikes/industrial action.
NUM: National Union of Mineworkers.
NUWSS: National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies.
Picket [line]: a gathering of protesters outside of a place of work or location where an event is taken place. The main aim is to dissuade other people from going in (‘crossing the picket line’) to work etc.
Pickets: people manning the picket lines.
Pit head: area around the opening of the pit shaft around which are built surface facilities to enable the working of the mine.
Pit: a deep shaft underground mine.
PLP: Parliamentary Labour Party.
Pneumoconiosis: an occupational lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust in the case of coal miners it is caused by coal dust.
Primary consumer: a consumer is a person who purchases goods or services. A primary consumer is the group that does the majority of this purchasing.
Royal Commission on Divorce and Matrimonial Causes: on 14 July 1909 Lord Gorell pointed out to the House of Lords that restrictive divorce laws were morally harming people, who chose to separate or not marry at all. This sparked a Royal Commission into divorce laws, womens’ rights to divorce and the reasons for which a divorce could be obtained.
Royal Commission: royal commissions are created by the King/Queen on the advice of government and look into pre-prescribed issues. They have considerable powers and their reports are taken into account when the government considers laws in areas affected by the issues.
Slipper binding: a type of binding that was sown round the edges of shoes and slippers to prevent the material from fraying.
Social Democratic Federation: established in 1881 as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman.
Suffrage: the right to vote, or the use of that right by voting in an election. Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote on the same terms as men.
Suffragette: suffragists had not achieved votes for women by peaceful methods, many women began to advocate a more militant (hands-on) approach. In 1903 the Women's Social and Political Union was founded and adopted tactics of direct action, often illegal and involving public disorder. The Daily Mail is credited as coining the term ‘suffragette’ in 1906 - this became used to differentiate the militant WPSU campaigners from the suffragists.
Suffragist: originally used for all members of the movement to achieve women’s suffrage, whether radical or conservative, male or female. After the term ‘suffragette’ began to be used in 1906, a distinction was made between suffragettes and suffragists – the latter aimed to achieve female suffrage by peaceful persuasion, within the law and often by working with political parties or people.
Sweated industries: also called cottage industries. Typically carried out by women, these are normally sewing jobs that were notoriously low paid, with high demands to produce a lot of items per day and long hours. The workers had no rights and the fight to change this was the subject of national campaigns.
Theosophist: a person subscribing to the movement of religious philosophy, originating in the 1870s, which says that each religion holds a portion of the truth about mankind, the world and god.
TUC (Trades Union Congress): the central body of the organised labour movement in the UK. The first TUC meeting was held in 1868 when the Manchester and Salford Trades Council convened the founding meeting in the Manchester Mechanics’ Institute.
Union of Democratic Control: established in 1914 in response to the outbreak of World War One, the outbreak of which they believed was due to secret policies and as such non-democratic. They acted as a pressure group for non-military influence over government (in Britain), negotiated peace and non-responsive foreign policy.
WAPC: Women Against Pit Closures.
WEWC: War Emergency Workers Committee.
Women’s Co-operative Guild: groups of female co-operators who organise into localised groups; the groups have a democratic structure and are overseen at a national level. The Women’s Co-operative Guild was founded in 1883 (1892 in Scotland) to educate women in the principles and practices of co-operation and to work for the improvement of the status of women. The name changed to Co-operative Women’s Guild in 1962.
Women’s Labour League: political pressure group on women’s issues, founded 1906.
Women’s Parliaments: WSPU-led marches to Parliament in 1907 and 1908, to protest against the omission of women's suffrage from the King's Speech.
WSPU: Women’s Social and Political Union.
