Malicious Mischief? Women’s Suffrage in Scotland

About

Many contemporaries regarded the Suffragettes as violent troublemakers. The Scottish authorities often charged them with ‘Malicious Mischief’, but were they just criminals? Did the Suffragettes’ actions help or hinder the cause?

The centenary in 2018 of some women gaining the parliamentary vote, offered the chance to reflect on the actions of those who agitated for women’s suffrage; the Suffragettes and Suffragists. To mark this historical event the National Records of Scotland (NRS) produced the Fringe Festival exhibition ‘Malicious Mischief? Women’s Suffrage in Scotland’, a display that examined the difference between Suffragists and Suffragettes, and the progress of women’s suffrage through records held within Scotland’s national archives. Exploring the stirring story of the struggle for the vote by violent and peaceful means, this resource was originally part of the exhibition display. It includes images of archival files which primarily relate to the arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of suffragettes in Scotland; a timeline of women’s suffrage; profiles of some of the key women represented in the records of NRS; and transcriptions relating to those women who boycotted the 1911 census.

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Please note that images of blank pages within each archival file have been removed. As such the pagination may appear out of sequence, but are accurate.