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Janet McCallum (suffragette)
Janet "Jenny" McCallum or Janet Richardson (21 July 1881 – 24 March 1946) was a Scottish trade unionist and working-class suffragette in a movement which was predominantly made up of middle and upper-class activists.[1] LifeMcCallum was born at Hospital Hill in Dunfermline in 1881.[2] She was the eldest of the thirteen children of John (1857 - c1905), a stonemason, and Janet McCallum (1860 - 1933). Her father worked on the construction of the Forth Bridge. She spent her early childhood in the town of Inverkeithing, and was probably educated at St. Leonard's School in Dunfermline.[2] She worked in a linen weaving factory, Mathewson's,[3][4] until 1908[5] and she was unusual in becoming a working-class woman who was active in the women's suffrage movement.[1] ActivityAs a young woman, Jenny was involved with trade union activities, and in 1907 she organised what was called a "Great Demonstration" where the national leaders of the Women's Social and Political Union, including Christabel Pankhurst and other national leaders, came to West Fife.[2] Jenny organised and chaired open air meetings, often alongside Anna Munro of the Women's Freedom League. In October of that year she attended a conference on sweated labour in Glasgow, which would have been of interest to her given her working class background and work in a factory.[2] By 1908,[6] she had joined Anna Munro in the Women's Freedom League.[7] The league was a break away group from the WSPU who objected to the autocratic management of the Pankhursts.[8] In the summer of 1908, she was involved with influencing by-elections in Liberal party strongholds, a tactic frequently used by women's suffrage activists at this time.[2]  On 27 October 1908 she was in London, taking part in a co-ordinated event, organised by the Women's Freedom League. According to a news report, there were a number of actions taking place at the same time. One group of women "and a couple of men"[9] were inside the ladies gallery of the House of Commons, and began to shout, stating, "Mr Speaker, members of the Liberal Government, we have listened behind the grille long enough. The women of England demand the vote."[9] At the same time, a placard was being pushed through the grille in the ladies gallery, which stated, "Women's Freedom League demand votes for women".[9] There was also a group outside, taking part in a demonstration in Old Palace Yard outside the houses of parliament; a newspaper reported that "four very athletic suffragettes clambered on a statue", that of the Richard Coeur de Lion) .[6][9][2] Janet was arrested, and was given the choice of paying a £5 fine or serving a sentence and chose a one month sentence.[10] After leaving Holloway Prison[4] she went to Glasgow on behalf of the WFL, spending some time at their headquarters in the city.[2] On 18th June 1910, she took part in a Grand Procession in London, one of the earliest mass marches organised by the suffrage movement.[11] [12] She was among a group of "prisoners" - people who had been sent to prison for the cause. Other groups were graduate, teachers, athletes, musicians and actresses. Many of the groups carried banners. She returned to her home in Dunfermline. As a wage-earner, her income was important to her family.[2] She was blacklisted by her employer, and it took her a year to secure another job in a mill.[2] She resumed her trade union activities, and became the full-time organiser of the textile Worker's Union.[2] In 1919 she came to the fore in a dispute with the Scottish National Housing Company of whom she was a tenant. She gathered attention for the Rosyth tenants who were involved in what was presented as a women-led rent strike. She organised a series of mass meetings, marches and pickets.[2] The dispute led to some tenants appearing in court and McCallum was able to arrange for Sylvia Pankhurst to speak on their behalf.[13] PersonalAfter her spell in Glasgow, she returned to Dunfermline and resumed working so that she could help support her mother and sister. In 1915, she married Harry Richardson, an engine fitter at Rosyth dockyard.[14]. They had three children. [2] In the 1920s Harry and Janet decided to emigrate as there was little work in Scotland. By the time votes for women were agreed, she was living in South Africa.[6] McCallum died in Pretoria in South Africa on 24 March, 1946.[2][4] References
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