Source 13a:  Census Resistance, 1911, Votes for Women newspaper

 

Description

On 3 April 1911, the militant suffragettes decided to boycott the census and refused to be counted. Many female householders wrote 'no vote, no census' on their forms, and some campaigners arranged to stay away from home on the day that the census was taken. In towns and cities across Scotland, women met together in cafes and offices, and organised musical and dramatic entertainment that lasted throughout the night.

Transcript

Census Resistance

'The Suffragettes have now definitely decided to take leave of their Census' - Punch

The taking of the Census provides an immediate opportunity for recording our protest as women against a Government that legislates without consent. It is an act of passive resistance to a great and intolerable wrong. Women who do not count as 'the people', women who in the eyes of the law are not 'persons' but only 'property', will refuse as far as it is possible to be counted in the Census.

Thousands of women and a very large number of men, will unite in this protest. Time is short. We must organise quickly. The names of all those who intend to resist should be sent to Miss Olive Smith, W.S.P.U., 4 Clements Inn, London, W.C. Resisters will group themselves into two main classes of which the first is far the most important.

1. Occupiers and heads of households (both men and women) who are willing to rise imprisonment or a fine of not more than £5.

2. Other persons determined not to be counted in the returns, who can add weight of numbers to the demonstration of protest.

Census Resistance

1. I, being a woman Occupier, undertake to refuse to fill up my Census Form, and to write across the form the reason for my refusal.

2. I, being a Lodger or Boarder, or resident in an hotel, undertake to apply to the Census Authorities for a special form for my own use, and to refuse to fill in the particulars, writing across the form the reason for my refusal.

3. I, bring a male Occupier, undertake not to fill in upon the Census Form any particulars concerning the women inmates of my house, and to write across the form the reason for this action.

4. I, being a woman unable to protest in any of the ways mentioned above, undertake to adopt such other measures as may be necessary to escape inclusion in the Census return.