I would like to express my grateful thanks to all those who, over the ten years
that I have been collecting research for this book, have made it possible
including Gail Cameron (formerly at the Museum of London) and David
Doughan, retired from the Fawcett Library now renamed the Women’s Library.
My research assistant, Michelle Myall, undertook many mundane tasks with
meticulous care and good humour. I owe an especial debt to Sandra Holton and
Elizabeth Crawford, for many interesting discussions, and to Heather Laughton
for the many finds we have acquired together. The late Jill Craigie was excep-
tionally kind to me in allowing me access to her suffrage collection and I can
never repay the debt I owe her husband, Michael Foot, for granting me exclu-
sive access to her archive. During the course of my work, I made contact with
one of Emmeline Pankhurst’s adopted daughters, Kathleen King. Now aged and
nearly blind, her friendship is something that I greatly value as well as that of
Warwick Kenney-Taylor, son of Annie who was most generous with the remi-
niscences of his mother. Elizabeth Hodgson, daughter of Mary Hodgson (née
Gordon), another of Emmeline’s adopted girls, spent many hours trying to find
her mother’s birth certificate, without success. Nyra Goode and her late
husband, Phillip, kindly photocopied letters for me in their private collection.
I am indebted for financial support for the research for this book to The
British Academy’s Small Grants Scheme, and the University of Portsmouth
Research Funds. Emotional and culinary support has especially come from
Michael and Catherine who have endured my endless discussions about ‘Mrs.
P’. Friends and colleagues on the conference circuit have offered advice and
critical comments from which I have learnt much, although any errors remain
my own. I am grateful to the Master and Fellows of St. John’s College, Oxford,
for awarding me a scholarship in 1996, which gave me time to undertake
research in the Bodleian Library.
I am also grateful for the assistance given me by staff at the following
numerous libraries and institutions over the years, including the staff of the
National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, the Fryer Library, University of
Queensland, the British Library in London, the Women’s Library in London,
the National Trust (Dyrham Park), the Museum of London, the Sydney Jones
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