Tag: suffragette film

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Official Typist to Parliament

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If you’ve seen the movie Suffragette, you’ll remember the scene when Maud gives evidence in a House of Commons committee room about her life in the laundry. You may also remember how overwhelming male her audience was. The committee, chaired by Lloyd George, is made up of MPs who were all men in this period. Everyone else in the room is male too, except for Maud’s friends at the back of course, and – a female typist. The typist is there sitting near the front, her fingers tapping away at a keyboard, taking down the minutes of evidence. You only … Continue reading Official Typist to Parliament

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‘A fantastic coincidence’: My day as an extra on the film set of ‘Suffragette’

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Today Suffragette is released to cinemas around the country, and we are celebrating with this second blog from one of the film’s rather special ‘extras’ Peter Barratt. Peter’s great-grandmother was WSPU member Alice Hawkins. Alice was an extraordinary working woman who made things happen. ‘A fantastic coincidence’: My day as an extra on the film set of Suffragette My great-grandmother Alice Hawkins was a working class suffragette of a 100 years ago who was first arrested outside the Houses of Parliament in 1907, on the day of the State opening of Parliament. A shoe machinist by trade, Alice formed the … Continue reading ‘A fantastic coincidence’: My day as an extra on the film set of ‘Suffragette’

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BEING AN EXTRA IN THE FEATURE FILM SUFFRAGETTE

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To celebrate the release of Suffragette we are publishing two blogs by people who were very special film extras, the first, released as the premier is only hours away, is by June Purvis, Emeritus Professor of Women’s and Gender History at the University of Portsmouth and an historical advisor to the film. Professor Purvis will be known to many as the author of some of the best modern writing on women’s suffrage including Emmeline Pankhurst: a biography published in 2002. BEING AN EXTRA IN THE FEATURE FILM SUFFRAGETTE I was thrilled to be asked to be an ‘extra’ in the … Continue reading BEING AN EXTRA IN THE FEATURE FILM SUFFRAGETTE

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Exclusive: ‘Suffragette’ film review

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Mari Takayanagi, joint project manager and co-curator for Vote 100, saw an advance screening of ‘Suffragette’ and reviews it exclusively for UK Vote 100. ‘Suffragette’ is the story of Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan), a laundry worker in London’s East End, who gets sucked into the suffrage movement almost by accident and becomes one of its most militant campaigners. I found the story gripping, moving, sad and inspiring in turn. Maud’s work in the laundry is endless, grinding, exhausting and dangerous. Yet somehow none of this is as bad as the realisation, which gradually dawns on her and us throughout the … Continue reading Exclusive: ‘Suffragette’ film review