Since the demise of the Women's Suffrage Journal in 1890, the suffrage movement had effectively been without a newspaper of its own. After a split within the Women's Social and Political Union [WSPU], which brought about the establishment of the Women's Freedom League, Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence began, as joint editors, to publish 'Votes for Wome'’ to keep members of the WSPU in touch with the campaign and maintain morale. It began as a monthly publication priced at 3d in October 1907, but became weekly at 1d from May 1908.

As Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst advocated ever more hardline militancy, including arson, they broke away from the Pethick-Lawrences. With Christabel as editor, the first copy of The Suffragette was issued in October 1912. It became the WSPU’s official weekly paper. In spite of sustained attempts at suppression, The Suffragette remained in print each week until August 1914. It appeared again in 1915 as a war paper and in October 1915 was renamed Britannia.

Agnes Lake managed the offices of both Votes for Women and The Suffragette. Some of her papers are held by Girton College and are listed at GCRF 8/1/6.

The Suffragette Fellowship was established in 1926 by a small group of former militants to perpetuate their memory and to continue working for equality for women in political, economic, social and education spheres. See also GCRF 8/1/8/9 (part of the papers of Beatrice and Edith Clayton Pepper) for miscellaneous issues, 1967-70, of ‘Calling All Women: Newsletter of the Suffragette Fellowship’.

The suffrage publications listed here include - - - -