Eldridge, Miss Margaret, 9 Chambercombe Park Terrace, Ilfracombe
Amy Margaret Eldridge was a member of the Ilfracombe and Barnstaple branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). It has not so far been possible to discover anything about her family and background. She was probably one of the suffrage activists who avoided being ‘counted’ in the 1911 census, The 1911 census entry for 9 Chambercombe Park Terrace shows that it was a boarding house, kept by Miss Emily Bainbridge, a retired governess, and two other boarders, Miss Gertrude Winterbottom and Miss May Tudor, also lodged there.
Eldridge’s full name, address, and the fact that she had private means are known because she was nominated for election to Ilfracombe Urban District Council in 1914 and those details appear as part of her nomination. She also appears as a private resident in Kelly’s Directory of Devon and Cornwall for 1914.
She is first recorded in connection with the Ilfracombe and Barnstaple WSPU branch as making cash donations of two shillings and one shilling.[1] However, by 1913 she has become more closely involved in the organisation of the branch, acting as ‘Hon Sec pro tem.’ in August 1913, recruiting ‘paper sellers’, including visitors taking their summer holidays in Ilfracombe.[2] She also spoke with Annie Ball (q.v.) at a branch ‘At Home for Working Women’ on the topic of ‘the need for the vote’,[3] and chaired a public meeting on Women’s Suffrage in the Town Hall during the war at which Miss Barbara Wylie spoke.[4]
Eldridge does not feature in newspaper accounts of organisations or social events in the town, but she was a member of the Women’s Liberal Association (WLA). On 18 November 1913 she attended the Annual Meeting of the Ilfracombe WLA. This was a difficult time for the branch. It was hard to support a Liberal government apparently so determined to reject every attempt to give women the vote. The Barnstaple Division (of which Ilfracombe was a part) was held by a Liberal MP at the December 1910 election, but he had decided to seek nomination elsewhere and a new Liberal candidate had been selected. This was Henry Harben, very much in favour of women’s suffrage. He was, however, shocked by the Liberal Government’s force-feeding of women prisoners and decided to resign his candidacy. He was replace by the Barnstaple Liberal Party with Mr H. A. Baker. Baker was opposed to women’s suffrage and refused even to discuss it in public. He was the guest speaker at the Ilfracombe WLA meeting, and when he stood to address the meeting, so did Eldrdige, calling out ‘I rise to protest against the forcible feeding …’.[5]
As the report in Votes for Women described, ‘Her voice was at once drowned … but she continued to speak, and words were heard here and there referring to the actions of the Liberal Government which she wished to denounce.’ The President, Mrs Gould, having quelled the commotion, invited her to speak briefly, but Eldridge only asked whether Mr Baker would answer questions at the end. When told that he would not, as this was not a public meeting, she retorted ‘Then there is no Liberalism here, and this is not place for me’, and walked out, accompanied by Miss Ball.
In 1914 changes to the legislation about women’s eligibility to be elected as councillors changed. Women could stand for election even if they were not ‘householders’. The list of those nominated for the spring elections to Ilfracombe District Council, where there were five vacancies, initially totalled 18, and Amy Margaret Eldridge appeared on that list, along with three other women. One of the women was ruled not to have been validly nominated, but Eldridge and one of the other nominees withdrew voluntarily.[6] If this was a tactical move to secure the election of at least one woman it succeeded, as Miss Hammond came fifth in the ballot.[7]
No further information has been discovered about Amy Margaret Eldridge and Devon History Society would welcome clues for further research.
Entry created by Julia Neville, December 2018
[1] Votes for Women (VfW) 9 Feb 1912; The Suffragette , 6 Jun 1913.
[2] The Suffragette, 1 Aug 1913, 730; 8 Aug 1913, 739.
[3] The Suffragette, 2 Jan 1914, 282
[4] North Devon Journal, 2 Apr 1915.
[5] VfW, 28 Nov 1913, 125.
[6] NDJ, 26 Mar 1914.
[7] NDJ, 9 Apr 1914.