communism and pacifism was evident among other feminists, including
Emmeline’s own daughters, Sylvia and Adela; some of these women were
speaking of marriage under capitalism as ‘legal prostitution’, advocating early
sex education and scorning the ‘spinsterly ideals’ of the older generation of
feminists.^92 Many years later, one member of this younger generation of femi-
nists analysed the change in post-war feminism as a move from the political to
the economic. Thus for Vera Brittain, pre-war feminist leaders like Emmeline
Pankhurst and Millicent Garrett Fawcett were ‘leisured’ women who spent
endless hours in unpaid political work on public platforms and committees
while the post-war feminists wanted professional work that would give them
economic independence.^93
Had Emmeline been alive when Vera Brittain’s essay was published, she
would have understood the argument about the importance of economic inde-
pendence for women and, undoubtedly, questioned the assertion that she was
‘leisured’. Ever since her widowhood, she had had to earn a living and had often
faced financial hardship. The salary she had been paid as a key speaker for the
WSPU and then the Women’s Party had never been enough to cover any
personal needs and now that the Women’s Party had faded away, she found
herself saddled with its liabilities, especially Tower Cressey, and, yet again, hard
pressed for money for the upkeep of her own home and the support of her
adopted children. A decision was made to present Tower Cressey to Princess
Alice as a War Memorial Adoption Home while another lucrative lecture tour
of North America was planned for the autumn. Optimistic as ever, Emmeline
wrote to Ethel Smyth on 21 June 1919 saying that now that she had only her
own interests to consider, she was sure she could earn enough to support herself
and the children for the rest of her days. She hoped, on her return, to find a
small house in the country not too far from London or Woking.^94
Before Emmeline left Britain that autumn, she spent the summer resting
with the children at a cottage in Peaslake, Surrey. When Ethel visited one day,
she was shocked to see the airs and graces which the children had been taught –
they ‘flitted about like fairies, offered you scones with a curtsey, and kissed their
hands to you when they left the room’. Having been a tomboy as a child, Ethel
bluntly told Emmeline that she preferred to see children brought up ‘naturally’.
An annoyed Emmeline hastily muttered something about ‘old maids’ always
thinking they know best how the young should be brought up. The incidence
did not sour the close friendship between the two women, however, so
Emmeline also made a short visit to Ethel at Coign. On 23 July, Emmeline and
Christabel each signed their wills which stated that, subject to the payment of
funeral expenses and debts, the estate of each was bequeathed to the other who
was also appointed the executrix.^95 In September, Emmeline sailed with
Catherine Pine for the United States and Canada. Although she often longed
to return home, she was obliged to stay away and earn her living for six years.
LEADER OF THE WOMEN’S PARTY