By Joanne Harris

BEFORE the outbreak of WW1, women across the UK had been waging their own war – a call to end the inequalities they faced in society.

In Buckinghamshire, many women joined the campaign for the right to vote, their work paving the way for the county’s first elected female MP in 1923, and later the longest serving Conservative MP, Dame Cheryl Gillan. Local historian Alison Bailey has brought together a collection of stories of some of these pioneering women in her book, Women at War, shining a light on their contributions to the Suffrage movement, but also their selfless and tireless work in supporting the war effort.

The book unearths details of doctors, teachers and celebrity artists, women from cross sections of society, all of whom continued to challenge society’s perceptions of the role of females. The names Pankhurst and Garret Anderson appear, names more familiar perhaps with the fight for equality, but so too do the names of lesser known suffrage campaigners who sacrificed much to secure the freedoms of all women.

One of these women was Alice Margaret Wright. A pillar of the community in Chesham Bois, Wright retired to the area having been a high school teacher in London. Few would have known about her militant past or guessed she’d been jailed for ‘common criminality’ in 1911. Wright became a suffragette in 1908 after hearing Emmeline Pankhurst speak. She sold newspapers to promote the cause, and later spoke at many rallies herself up and down the country. Her arrest came after Pankhurst orchestrated a mass protest targeting cabinet ministers’ houses. Wright was caught throwing stones at Lord Harcourt’s house and spent two weeks in Holloway Prison where she was stripped of her own clothes and forced to endure mice infested cells.

Having settled in Chesham Bois after WW1, Margaret’s role in the Suffrage Movement only became apparent when she published her memoir ‘How I became a Suffragette’, which is now held by the Amersham Museum Chiltern Club of Arts Collection.

Like fellow suffragette Emily Brandon, of Chesham, Wright’s status increased after her imprisonment, and there appeared to be an influx of suffrage campaigners to the area during and after WW1, with a substantial suffrage community close by in Penn.

Women’s Right to Serve

Whilst the pace of the Votes for Women campaign was gathering, with public support increasing, there is no doubt that women’s significant contributions to society during the war changed perceptions and allowed politicians to change their views on women’s right to vote.

Chancellor Lloyd George knew he would need to get an old foe on side and so gave Emmeline Pankhurst £2,000 to organise the ‘Women’s Right to Serve March’.

And women everywhere answered that call; women set up and ran hospitals, factories, sciences labs, transport depots and anywhere else that freed up men to fight on the front.

In Amersham and Chesham, the suffrage community played its part, putting aside their campaign to provide vital services for the war and those at home.

Henrietta Busk, Amersham’s first female councillor was one of the women who stepped forward. An educational pioneer, she worked throughout her long career for the equal treatment and higher education of women. She was a friend Dame Frances Dove, who had been the first female council when she stood for election to High Wycombe town councillor in November 1907 and topped the poll. Dame Frances was the founder of Wycombe Abbey school for girls, which she opened in 1896, and its first Head Mistress.

During the war, Busk had a vital role in organising and coordinating hospital and convalescent provision, relief committees, aid for Belgium refugees and the care of orphaned children. After the war, she proposed a scheme for the creation of a Chesham Bois War Memorial dedicated to the fallen which was unveiled on 11 November 1920, the Amersham War Memorial was consecrated nearly 1 year later on 10 July 1921.

She served as councillor for 22 years, only retiring due to ill health at the age of 87. During her time, she continued to campaign for equality for women and all.

Alison Bailey’s book is a testament to the women in Buckinghamshire, like Wright and Busk, whose intelligence, bravery and spirit supported a nation at war and led an army of women in securing equality for all.

Women at War, written by local historian Alison Bailey with support from volunteers of Amersham Museum is available to purchase at Amersham Museum. Profits from the book, which was supported by the Heritage Fund, will support the museum’s activity programme and running costs. https://amershammuseum.org/