The Perth Suffragette Protest of 1914—a mass protest of thousands of women in Perth in the summer—was a direct and furious response to the brutal practice of forcible feeding. Authorities were administering this procedure to militant suffragette prisoners inside Perth Prison. Suffragettes, members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), had adopted the strategy of hunger striking in prison. They protested their designation as common criminals rather than political prisoners.
An Artifact of Resistance: The "Votes For Women" Coin
The discovery of an old coin bearing the inscription "Votes For Women" by a metal detectorist in Scotland provides a potent physical link to this very era. Therefore, these coins were deliberately defaced pennies, stamped with the suffragette slogan as an act of political vandalism and widespread protest. This subtle, non-violent form of militancy was designed to spread the WSPU's message. Consequently, the finding of a coin in the Perthshire area strongly suggests that one of the thousands of women who descended upon Perth that summer dropped it while picketing the prison and demonstrating their outrage at the government's cruelty.
🔒 Who Were the Prisoners? The Suffragettes of Perth Prison
Perth Prison became the notorious hub for the forced feeding of suffragettes in Scotland in 1914. The Perth Suffragette Protest of 1914 focused specifically on women who were militant suffragettes. Police had imprisoned them for acts of civil disobedience and criminal damage, such as attempted arson, intended to draw attention to their cause.
The protest in the summer of 1914 focused heavily on the treatment of several key figures, including:
Arabella Scott
This teacher and militant suffragette from Edinburgh was serving a nine-month sentence for attempted fire-raising. Furthermore, Arabella Scott became one of the most prominent victims of forced feeding in Perth Prison. The prison doctor subjected her to the procedure for a significant period. The doctor considered the attempt to successfully force-feed her (leading to her gaining weight) a success. However, the WSPU condemned it medically and morally.
Frances Gordon
She was jailed for breaking into a mansion house with the intent to set it on fire. Moreover, Gordon's treatment in Perth Prison caused a national outcry. The medical officer, Dr. Hugh Ferguson Watson, not only force-fed her via a nasal tube but also allegedly administered nutrient enemas (rectal feeding) after she violently resisted and vomited the tube-fed food. Medical reports on her release described her as looking like a "famine victim." Her body was left physically damaged, and her skin discoloured. In fact, her case was raised in the House of Commons.
Fanny Parker (alias Janet Arthur)
A niece of Lord Kitchener, Parker was arrested after attempting to destroy Robert Burns' Cottage in Ayrshire with explosives. Following this, she was transferred to Perth and subjected to force-feeding. She and Frances Gordon alleged that the feeding involved attempts through the rectum and vagina, resulting in serious injuries. Clearly, the state used this tactic to shame, punish, and mentally break the prisoners.
In summary, these women were on a hunger strike because they demanded recognition as political prisoners. The government sought to delegitimise their political campaign by treating them as common criminals. The women's response, the hunger strike, turned their bodies into the final battleground.
⚕️ The Cruel Procedure: Forcible Feeding and the Cat and Mouse Act
Forcible feeding was a barbaric and degrading procedure. British prisons introduced it after suffragettes began adopting the hunger strike in 1909. Ultimately, the government used it as a political tool to circumvent the suffragettes' tactic of martyrdom. The state feared that a suffragette dying in prison would create a wave of public sympathy and outrage that would further their cause.
The Procedure and its Violations
The process was inherently violent. Several female wardresses would restrain the women while a male doctor inserted a tube—either through the nose or down the throat.
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Nasal Feeding: A rubber tube coated in Vaseline was pushed up the nostril and down the throat into the stomach.
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Mouth Feeding: The prison staff prised the prisoner's mouth open using a steel gag. This metal device was designed to wrench the jaws apart, often damaging the gums and teeth. Afterward, a larger tube was forced down the throat.
Then, a liquid mixture of eggs, sweetened milk, and meat juice was poured through a funnel into the stomach. The act was not merely unpleasant; it was a form of torture. Often, it was done roughly, causing nosebleeds, throat infections, and vomiting. For example, in Ethel Moorhead's case, food entered her lungs, leading to a dangerous case of pneumonia.
The medical officer at Perth Prison, Dr. Hugh Ferguson Watson, was known for his eagerness to carry out the procedure and was a source of great public anger. Therefore, the widespread public knowledge that the government was sanctioning this treatment of often well-educated, middle and upper-class women fuelled the protest. The WSPU referred to it as a "torture" and a violation.
The "Cat and Mouse" Act
The entire situation was compounded by the notorious Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913, nicknamed the "Cat and Mouse" Act. This act allowed authorities to release hunger-striking suffragettes when they became gravely ill—on the brink of death. Crucially, the authorities then re-arrested them once they had recovered their health outside of prison. The name came from the cruel game a cat plays with a mouse, deliberately prolonging its victim's suffering. The protestors in Perth demanded the unconditional release of the prisoners. They recognised that their cyclical imprisonment, hunger strike, release, and re-arrest under the "Cat and Mouse" Act was a form of psychological and physical persecution.
📢 The Impact and Legacy of the Perth Protest
The massive demonstration in Perth in June and July of 1914 was a peak moment of militancy and public outcry in Scotland. Thousands of women, including not just WSPU members but also local supporters, converged on the city. First, they picketed the gates of Perth Prison. Next, they sang hymns and shouted words of support through a megaphone, hoping to encourage the women inside. Finally, they interrupted public events, including church services and a royal visit, to draw attention to the suffering in the prison just a mile away. The protest was so disruptive that officials abandoned a cinema screening, shut down public buildings, and drafted extra police into the city.
The "Votes For Women" coin found in Scotland—a penny or silver coin stamped with the militant slogan—is an artifact of this fierce struggle. Significantly, this act of defacing the King's image was a direct challenge to the patriarchal authority of the state.
The Perth Suffragette Protest of 1914, alongside the stories of the women like Arabella Scott and Frances Gordon who endured torture for their political beliefs, represents the final, desperate surge of the suffragette movement before the outbreak of World War I. Ultimately, the government's decision in August 1914 to release all women's suffrage prisoners and the WSPU's subsequent decision to suspend militancy in support of the war effort brought an end to this chapter of prison brutality. Nevertheless, the sacrifices made in Perth were instrumental in galvanising public opinion against the government's cruelty. Consequently, the coin and the protest are forever linked. Encapsulating the radical methods women used to demand their rights in the face of violent state repression.