COUR AGE OF CONVICTION
Connie Osborne’s Summit address in praise of her suffragette ancestor, who stood up against class discrimination with her fearless protest
The story of Lady Constance Lytton is not wellknown, but it deserves to be. Constance was an aristocrat from a very notable family. Her father, Robert Bulwer-Lytton, was the former Viceroy of India, and her grandfather was the author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, so it was already extraordinary for a lady of her standing to become a campaigning suffragette. Despite this, she joined the WSPU in 1909 and took part in active demonstrations. However, her campaigning went far beyond the simple question of votes for women. It was really about highlighting the appalling injustice of the treatment meted out to poorer female political prisoners. This came to her attention when she was first arrested in London for her part in a suffragette demonstration. She was imprisoned under her real name and title. When it was discovered that she was an aristocrat from a prominent family, she was given preferential treatment in prison, including, crucially, a health check by a doctor. This revealed that she had a weak heart, so she was not force-fed when she went on hunger strike, and subsequently was released on the grounds of ill health. Constance was enraged that her fellow prisoners did not get the same treatment. Driven by ‘sheer exasperation’ to highlight this injustice, in 1910 she disguised herself as a lowly seamstress called Jane Warton, got herself arrested again for throwing stones, and was imprisoned in Walton jail. This time, the authorities, not knowing who she really was, force-fed her repeatedly.
When her sister discovered her whereabouts, and it was revealed who she was, it created a huge scandal in the press. Her actions were even debated in the House of Commons. Constance was released, but the damage to her heart from force-feeding had been catastrophic. She suffered a stroke in 1912, and spent the rest of her life as an invalid. Before her death in 1923, she wrote a book about her experiences called Prisons and Prisoners, which highlighted the appalling abuses of the prison system for the poor, and the horrors of force-feeding. Constance was an incredibly brave woman who committed the ultimate heroic deed and, I believe, died from the consequences. She has always been a great source of inspiration to me, and I am so proud to say that not only was she my great-greataunt, but that I was named after her.