In addition to these family worries, Emmeline also had to face increasing
financial difficulties. Richard’s prominent role as defence lawyer in the Boggart
Hole Clough agitation plus that fact that he had been elected earlier in 1896 as
a member of the National Administrative Council (NAC) of the ILP caused,
yet again, a fall in demand for his legal services. Financial worries meant, of
course, that money would be spared only for what was considered important,
namely political activities rather than holidays and recreation or expensive
clothes. Thus at the beginning of autumn that year, Emmeline travelled to
Bradford for its municipal and parliamentary elections, speaking alongside Keir
Hardie. On Saturday, 24 October, she dined with other ILP members at the
home of Margaret McMillan, a socialist stalwart in the Bradford area, and was
described by one of the guests as ‘lively as a cricket, full of clever comment, crit-
icism and scandal’.^65 Similarly she and Richard did not hesitate when asked by
Tom Mann to travel to Antwerp to protest against the imprisonment by the
Belgian government of Ben Tillett for trade union activities. Open-air protests,
held with James Sexton, were dispersed by the police who also arrived soon
after an indoor meeting had been held. Although Sexton was subsequently
arrested and deported, the same fate did not befall Emmeline and Richard.^66
The excitement of such political life must have contrasted sharply with the
more mundane family activities that Emmeline engaged in that year, including
attending the christening of her goddaughter, Nell Hall Humpherson’s sister.^67
The New Year of 1897 saw Emmeline continuing her usual range of social
and political activities, including the ‘unique feat for I.L.Pers’ of being returned
unopposed to the Chorlton Board of Guardians, an honour she shared with Dr.
Martin.^68 Emmeline’s happiness at her success was marred, however, by worries
about Richard’s health; the severe pains in his stomach were becoming more
frequent. Deciding that the country air might help to restore him to full health,
she searched for a suitable residence and eventually found Vale Wood Farm in
Mobberley, Cheshire. Here the family, uprooted once more, stayed from the
spring to the autumn of 1897. Richard travelled by train to Manchester each
day where his legal practice was based and Christabel, who was studying logic,
French and dressmaking, accompanied him several times a week. The younger
children no longer attended school.^69 Yet even in the peace and quiet of the
country, Emmeline and Richard could not desert their deep commitment to the
socialist cause nor to those financially worse off than themselves. In particular,
the imprisonment of Leonard Hall, one of the Clough protesters, had left his
pregnant wife and their family destitute. Although the ILP eventually offered
some financial help, it was inadequate. On his release, Hall became seriously ill,
largely as a result of the anxieties he had suffered, and a fund was set up for his
family. Emmeline and Richard decided to help by offering the proceeds of one
hundred picnic teas, at a charge of one shilling each, to members of the ILP and
of the highly popular cycling clubs associated with the socialist newspaper The
Clarion, edited by Robert Blatchford; the day fixed for the great event at Vale
Wood Farm was Whit Sunday, 12 June 1897.^70
SOCIALIST AND PUBLIC REPRESENTATIVE