Words and Deeds: Birmingham Suffragists and Suffragettes 1832-1918

In September 1909 Prime Minister Herbert Asquith came under attack during an event at Birmingham’s Bingley Hall. Members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) - or ‘suffragettes’ as the papers had named them - prevented from attending the meeting by a heavy police presence, threw roof slates at Asquith’s car to register their frustration. Ten women were arrested and imprisoned for their actions that day.

This incident was one of many that marked the campaign for women’s suffrage i...