National Records of Scotland

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Flora Drummond (1878-1949)

Flora Drummond (1878-1949)

Suffragette

Flora Drummond (nee Gibson) was born in Manchester on 4 August 1878. A few years later her family returned to the Isle of Arran. She studied at a civil service school in Glasgow and was awarded the Society of Arts certificate. After her marriage she moved back to Manchester where she was the manager of the Oliver Typewriter Company. She joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and from 1906 was based in London playing a central role in the campaign for women's suffrage. Nicknamed 'General', she was the main organiser of the 'Women's Sunday' processions in 1908 and remained politically active after the First World War. A statue of Millicent Fawcett was unveiled in Parliament Square in 2018 to mark the centenary of women winning the right to vote. Flora Drummond's name and image are included on the statue's plinth.

1891 Census

In 1891 Flora Gibson, 12, was enumerated at the Grocer's Shop in Altgolach on Arran with her mother, Sarah Gibson, 40, a widow and grocer's assistant. The census return for the district of Lochranza gives their respective birthplaces as Lancashire, Manchester and Campbeltown. The head of household was her grandmother, Flora Cook, also a widow who was born on Mull and spoke Gaelic and English (G and E).

1891 Census record for Flora Drummond

1891 Census record for Flora Drummond (28 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 1891/556/3, page 9

Marriage in 1898

Florrie Gibson, 20, typist, married Joseph P Drummond on 26 September 1898. The entry in the statutory register for the district of Dennistoun in the county of Lanark gives her father's details as Francis Gibson, tailor (deceased) and Joseph's occupation as upholsterer. They married 'after publication according to the forms of the Free Church of Scotland'.

Marriage entry for Flora Drummond

Marriage entry for Flora Drummond (49 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 1898/644-3/456

Death in 1949

Flora Simpson, 70, political organiser, died at 1:30 pm on 17 January 1949. The entry in the statutory register for the district of Saddell in the county of Argyll shows she was the widow of (1) Joseph Percival Drummond, upholsterer and (2) Adam Simpson, marine engineer. The place of death was "Duncrannag" and her usual residence Dunedin, both in Carradale. The informant was her son, Keir H Drummond, who was present at the death.

Death entry for Flora Drummond

Death entry for Flora Drummond (45 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 1949/531/1