This past week we released 105,098 pages to The Archive.  In time for International Women’s Day we are thrilled to add nine new titles to our Suffragette Collection.  We have also  updated four existing titles including The Globe for which we now have editions spanning 1804 to 1921, and our recently added Scottish title The North Star and Farmer’s Chronicle for which we now have a run from 1893 to 1911.

Our new titles represent the full spectrum of the feminist and suffrage movements, from conservative to militant.  The earliest title, published by Lady Somerset, The Woman’s Signal described itself as ‘A weekly paper for all women, about their interests, in the home and in the wider world’ and dealt with both the private and public sphere of women in the late nineteenth century.

It may surprise some readers to see that both the Church, and Conservatives had dedicated Suffrage titles.  The Church League for Women’s Suffrage even changed its name to The Church Militant in 1918.  Presided over by The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lincoln the first edition declared the organisation’s objectives

The objects are to band together, on a non-party basis, Suffragists of every shade of opinion who are Church people in order to

1. Secure for women the Parliamentary Vote as it is or may be granted to men.

2. Use the power thus obtained to establish equality of rights and opportunities between the sexes.

3. Promote the moral, social, and industrial well-being of the community.

While titles like The Common Cause ran for many decades, often undergoing several changes of ownership and title changes, some Suffrage titles had extremely short runs.  The Suffragist appears to have published only a single issue in October 1909.  The paper has a satirical tone and is dominated by cartoons signed by an Osmond Garrick.  You can learn more about each of the titles we have added to this week by clicking on their names. On each paper’s title page you can read a FREE sample issue, learn more about our current holdings, and our plans for digitisation.

New Titles

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You can keep up to date with all the latest additions by visiting the recently added page.  You can even look ahead to see what we’re going to add tomorrow.

Updated Titles